


Harry Potter and the Crystal of Lost Dreams

by Triage



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:27:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 31,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23535259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Triage/pseuds/Triage
Summary: AU. Magic is amazing and wondrous, and it is clearly drawing Harry and Katie together as they and their friends race to find the mysterious Crystal of Lost Dreams, an artifact of indescribable power that would alter the destiny of the world, and keep it out of the grasp of the evil Voldemort. Rated F for Fluffy.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Ginny Weasley, Fleur Delacour/Bill Weasley, Hermione Granger/Viktor Krum, Katie Bell/Harry Potter, Luna Lovegood/Ron Weasley, Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks
Kudos: 9





	1. Prologue

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**Author's Notary:** After years of a dry spell and irregular posting, I have once again returned to make a new tale. A new adventure, and an attempt to convince myself that I can, and will finish a story for once. Special thanks to Brutus, Phoenix Fire, Nauze, Salient, and Otakun1Snake. Each of you has inspired me to get off the fence and finally make something.

 **Substandard Disclaimer:  
** Yes, dear reader, I am indeed the owner of Harry Potter and Warner Bros (™) and all associated media, products, coffee mugs and strawberries. It is for this very fact that I write stories pertinent to the Potterverse in fanfiction websites. I mean where else is a writer to put stuff that they exclusively own? Oh, J.K. Rowling is just my body double for events and book signing and hobnobbing and stuff. Lots of money is being made, and all copyright infringements are totally totally intended. Happy reading.

* * *

**Prologue**

* * *

The Department of Mysteries, like everything else concerning magic, held a great many things that were both wondrous, and oftentimes so astounding, that it would be considered deadly if left to the untrained and inept. Wizards, witches, and all such magical folk often fell prey to the hubris of their own belief and self-assurance. They often easily believed, or perhaps convinced themselves that they were more than up to the task of dealing with the unknown and unusual.

Those that did try, more often than not, united themselves with lost ones that had gone on before them to the next great adventure.

The Unspeakables that worked in the Department of Mysteries knew one immense secret: We were not alone in the universe.

With the right means, there existed countless dimensions, realities, and innumerable variations of the universe we knew or understood which could be accessed. Each one was more amazing than the last, filled with the most minute of diversities, or such unimaginable difference as to be a wholly alien existence altogether.

In one such universe, that is known by its inhabitants as the Monitor Universe, the divergence of events led one Luna Lovegood to joining the Department of Mysteries. She became an Unspeakable, rose in the ranks, and soon, became a Monitor of the multiple realities that existed. She would often be seen, standing stock still, just staring into the infinite web, following the intricate lines where her fancies took her, and observing the different lives of friends and enemies alike with keen interest.

There was one divergence that seized her attention in recent days, for the great artifact that this one held, and the tales of joy and woe that preceded the atypical events common in the life of one Harry Potter. Luna smiled with a fond remembrance, a sense of nostalgia as she recalled her personal involvement with her world and its people. Her involvement in the downfall of her version of Voldemort.

"Getting nostalgic again, are we?" said one Lucius Malfoy, as he marched up to stand next to Luna, "Ah, of course, I should have known."

He studied the reality that floated before them, labelled as the Dream Universe, playing out events in a bubble that allowed the Unspeakables to follow them from start to finish with relative ease, "This one certainly seems to be your most favourite."

"They're all my favourite, Lucius," said Luna placidly, "Every one of them is unique and wonderful in their own way."

Lucius chuckled and nodded, "Of course, my dear, I should expect no less from you. I wish I shared or even perhaps understood your immense fascination with all this." He gestured towards the Great infinite Web, which resembled a massive circular mirror with seeming cracks in its surface.

Luna gave Lucius a surprised glance, "Why Lucius, after all this time? Do you still understand so little of me?"

"Always." deadpanned Lucius.

"How droll," Luna smiled, and turned her attention back to the reality.

Lucius observed for a while, and then sighed, "Why do I seem to be such an insufferable prat in most of them?"

"You _do_ have a tendency to favour joining Tom Riddle's lot in most," agreed Luna, "perhaps here, you are the exception to the norm. It's the wrackspurts in those realities."

"Now who's droll?" countered Lucius with a good-natured smile.

In the Monitor Universe, Lucius had never joined the Death Eaters. In fact, he was rather close friends of Arthur and Molly Weasley, and he raised his son and daughters to have open minds and a low tolerance for bullies. Draco, his eldest and the heir to the Malfoy fortunes, had proposed and married his long-time love, Ginny Weasley. The wedding was nothing short of national affair, given the notoriety of both families, their numbers, and their strong association with one Harry Potter.

Lucius, Harry and Luna had convinced Bellatrix Lestrange to switch sides towards the end of the war, turning the tide greatly in the favour of the Light, and Voldemort found himself facing the combined might of Britain's entire wizarding population, inspired by the courage of the good and righteous. The Death Eaters and any who would have followed him were beaten and subdued. With no option left to him, he tried to fight to the death, but Harry delivered some poetic justice that was perhaps a greater punishment than anything else.

With the agreement and liberty given to administer punishment by a fully supportive ministry of magic, Harry had restored Tom Riddle, making him completely human...and completely Muggle. He then wiped away his memory, and sent him to work construction, where a selection of Aurors monitored the man regularly. He would live out the remainder of his life never realising who he had once been.

"Well, it's Harry Potter Day," said Lucius, returning to the reason why he was here, "I certainly hope you plan on seeing your goddaughter for at least a token amount of time this year."

"Yes, she's turning eleven soon, isn't she?" asked Luna, "I have something important for them all."

Her tone was distracted, as if she were not fully aware of Lucius' presence, but the man knew far better. He smiled sardonically at the blonde, "This is the real reason why you're here, today, isn't it? Something to do with the Dream Reality's...rather unique treasure?"

Luna smiled up at the man, "I am oathbound not to speak, even to a fellow Unspeakable of this, my duty…"

"Yes, yes, yes," said Lucius with a wave of his free hand, "oh you do love to drivel on with that. For Merlin's sake, though, please try and remember to make an appearance this time. You only see Lucinda every so often, but I'm the one that gets stuck with her almost every bloody day. I'll never hear the end of it if you forget...again."

"I never forget," chided Luna gently, "I...merely arrived extraordinarily later than the norm."

Lucius simply chuckled and shook his head, then left the room. Luna peered at the reality's bubble, and smiled. It was coming to the interesting parts. She pressed her palm against the bubble and closed her eyes, allowing herself to be drawn into the experience as an unseen visitor, akin to falling into a Pensieve...


	2. Chapter 1: Lucid Dreaming

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**

**Author’s Mumbling:** Hullo folks! So here’s the next chapter. For the rest of the story until the Epilogue, we will now only be seeing the perspectives of the characters in the Dream Universe. I also would like to point out beforehand that certain events happen outside of canon time, and this chapter takes place towards the end of **FIFTH YEAR** , around May, just so we’re clear. Remember that this is almost completely AU, so it is or may not be completely compliant with OoTP, HBP and DH. I hope you enjoy it. Also, stay safe, wherever you are, be blessed, and remember to tell someone you love ‘em, because...well...just appreciate one another. Okay, read and review. :)   
  
**Insincere Disclaimer:** **  
**If it wasn’t clear from the start, allow me to state that it is beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am the undisputed owner of Harry Potter and all related products. I am also the owner of Warner Bros and the entire film franchise. Any complaints and blame can be sent via European swallow to J.K. Rowling, who is licensed to pretend she owns everything I mentioned above. And because I am the owner of all things Harry Potter, I write stories about them in FanFiction websites. Clever, eh?

* * *

**Chapter 1: Lucid Dreaming**

* * *

The sixth and final match for the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup began towards the end of May, on a fine, sunny weekend. Despite circumstances throughout their fifth year, both Harry and Draco retained their positions as Seekers for their respective house teams. No small feat given the volume of suspicion pinned on Draco for nefarious deeds or activities, none of which were successfully proven, whilst Umbridge certainly did her best to get Harry banned from Quidditch altogether for any reason she could think of.

Though that was the least of Harry’s concerns when it came to the pink-clad toad of a woman.

High above the stadium, he was hovering near the center of the pitch on his Firebolt, eyes closed. Centering himself, he slowly reopened his eyes, and allowed the dull roar of the crowds bring him back to the match. It was Slytherin against Gryffindor, once more, and both teams were at each other’s throats for the cup. It was neck-and-neck, with Slytherin currently leading with one twenty to eighty. Ron was doing a spectacular job defending the hoops, though the snakes managed to get such a volume of goals through their signature method: blatant fouling.

It made Harry want to sigh with a _Sonorus_ cast on himself.   
  
Madam Hooch did her best, but the woman couldn’t catch everything all the time, and those missed fouls was what took Slytherin forward.  
  
“POTTER!” shouted Angelina far below, and Harry saw the bludger sailing straight for him. With a quick spin, the bludger sailed through the air where he had been just a moment ago, and spiralled back down towards the pitch, he joined a distracted Katie and snatched the Quaffle from the lead Slytherin Chaser’s hands, who could only blink owlishly at his opponent before he realized he ought to give chase. Harry grinned and led his pursuers right towards a bludger that George and Fred helpfully knocked in his direction.   
  
When Harry ducked under the bludger at the last moment, it was too late for the two Chasers following behind him, and when they both turned into each other, they were struck by the steel ball, and had a spectacular crash on the field below. Unopposed towards Slytherin’s hoops, Harry passed the ball to Katie, who narrowly missed catching it and then passed it up to Alicia, and narrowed the distance between the teams by ten points.   
  
“Potter makes an excellent show of teamwork with his fellow Chasers,” announced Lee Jordan proudly, “Spinnet with ten points for Gryffindor, and the team is one step closer to narrowing the score with Slytherin. Scully takes the lead. Bell loses the quaffle to Scully-oh THAT HAS GOT TO BE A FOUL! SCULLY JUST KICKED BELL’S BROOM! BAD SHOW!”   
  
Harry’s head had whipped around at Lee’s outraged cry, along with many others, in time to see Katie’s broom spinning wildly around a few times before the girl managed to regain control. She shook her head and started moving forward, though she was visibly rattled and disoriented by the attack. Madam Hooch had seen it too, and blew her whistle, calling a foul and Katie was allowed a free score at the hoops. To Harry’s surprise, not only were the lions booing the Slytherin team, but some members of House Slytherin showed their disapproval towards their own players with thumbs aiming down or shaking their heads.   
  
“You okay?” asked Angelina, drawing near to the younger witch.   
  
“Y-yeah,” said Katie, giving her friend a weak smile.   
  
Ever since her exposure to the cursed object, Katie wasn’t quite the same upbeat girl she used to be. She was rather subdued, pale, and quiet, of late, sometimes jumping at the slightest movement near her. He’d asked her twice about it, but she either wouldn’t admit to remembering anything, or she’d suppressed the memories out of sheer terror. Taking the quaffle, Katie threw the ball, and missed by a mile. Abner Malcolm, the Slytherin Keeper smirked and then threw his head back and roared with laughter.   
  
“Sorry,” said Katie as she lowered her head.   
  
Harry and the other Chasers only looked on in worry as she took herself out of the game and Ginny flew in to replace her.   
  
“And the game is back on,” Lee smoothly carried on the announcements, “King Weasley makes a nice save, denying Scully from a score. Ginny has the quaffle, and narrowly dodges a hard bludger by Goyle, Malfoy tries to copy Potter’s earlier success working together with the Chasers, but the Weasley Twins break the teamwork, great performance! HARRY’S SPOTTED THE SNITCH! HE’S GOING IN. MALFOY’S TRYING TO CATCH UP BUT HE’S TOO FAR AWAY- **YES!** HARRY HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS THE HOUSE CUP! THIS IS LEE JORDAN SIGNING OFF. WHAT A GREAT END TO THE TERM FOR GRYFFINDOR!”   
  
Harry had spotted the shining gold just under Scully’s broom, and he’d gone in pursuit. Thinking that Harry was out for his blood for what he’d done to Katie, the Slytherin Chaser tried to outrun a Firebolt, and narrowly avoided wrapping himself around the Gryffindor hoops’ poles. The snitch tried to shift and fly straight up, but Harry had adjusted himself and caught the little winged ball which essentially flew right up into his waiting palm. With a grin, he presented the ball to Madam Hooch, who verified the catch, and the scoreboard mirrored it instantly. The stands were filled with the deafening roar of the crowds. House Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were firmly behind Gryffindor and joined in on the celebrations.   
  
For a moment, while still in the air, Harry was smothered by a bunch of redheads. The twins shouting and cheering, his best mate Ron playfully punching him in the shoulder, and Ginny’s voice drowned out by the din of the crowds. Angelina gave a firm nod of approval, but also slapped him on the back approvingly. Harry smiled and murmured replies everywhere, but his attention was devoted solely to a short girl with dark golden hair who trudged towards the locker rooms with slumped shoulders.

~ O ~  
  


When Harry entered the main locker room where the Gryffindor players gathered before a game or after their showers, he found Katie leaning tiredly against the wall, resting on a bench. Her eyes were closed, and she seemed cut off from the world.  
  
“Katie?” Harry called, and the girl’s eyes shot open.   
  
“How’d it go?” asked Katie with a small smile.   
  
“Didn’t you hear Lee letting the whole world know?” Harry smirked. “We won.”   
  
“Thanks to you.”   
  
“It was a team effort,” insisted Harry, “if not for the twins…”   
  
“Come off it, Harry. Gryffindor owes you for this victory.” Katie had a firm look in her eyes that brooked no argument on the subject.   
  
“Are you okay?” asked Harry, changing the subject.   
  
At this, Katie sighed and looked away. “I’ve… had better days,” she admitted, “I don’t think I’m going to stay on with the team next term.”   
  
“What? No, you can’t-”   
  
“Why not?” she demanded hotly, and glared up at Harry, “Angelina and Alicia could see it, everyone could bloody see it. I can’t fly my broom like I used to…my hands are always shaking…I can barely hold the quaffle when I get it…I should have let Ginny go in right from the start. Face it, Harry, my days playing Quidditch are over.”   
  
She pursed her lips as the rest of the team entered, joking and chattering noisily with each other, still riding on a high from their victory. When Angelina saw Harry’s conflicted expression, and Katie’s subdued but stormy face, the group quieted at a quick gesture of her hand, and the two oldest Chasers and Ginny joined Katie at the bench, whilst Fred, George and Ron led Harry to the boys’ shower room to quietly inquire what was going on.

~ O ~

Katie had avoided Harry for the rest of the night in the Gryffindor Common Room whilst the party was in full swing. Hermione seemed to have developed a taste for rule-breaking ever since she helped Harry and Ron start the Defence Association Club. Harry had initially thought of going with Dumbledore’s Army, but shortly after concluded it would be a bad idea, mostly because it would implicate the headmaster in a technically illegal activity. Besides, the Ministry of Magic, in particular the minister himself, Cornelius Fudge, seemed to think Dumbledore wanted to take over the Ministry.  
  
It would be bad form to, in any way, affirm such silly notions.   
  
So when George magically enlarged a mixing table to make some moonshine, to the cheers of the other lions, Hermione’s voice cut through the celebrations like a blasting hex, “ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MINDS?!?”   
  
The crowd quietened and looked uncertainly at the bushy-haired girl who stormed up towards the Weasley Twins, who were graduating alongside Alicia and Angelina, but they all looked terrified now. Swiping the unlabelled bottle from Fred’s hand, Hermione held it under her nose and sniffed, then screwed up her face with distaste, “You’ll be lucky to make it to Madam Pomfrey before the night is through if you took _this_ much alcohol in one pull.”   
  
“Well…” George started.   
  
“...you see…” Fred joined, to a swift glare from Hermione which shut both of them up. Harry began to approach his best friend, along with Ron, but the girl swung her hand back and all but slapped the bottle against Ron’s chest, who grasped it out of instinct.   
  
Hermione produced her purse and stuck her hand in. It swallowed up most of her arm, proving to Harry that it was clearly enchanted to hold far more than it looks, and she pulled out a large bottle of Ogden’s firewhiskey, planting it on the mixing table, followed by another, then another, until twelve full bottles were sitting proudly on the table. “If you’re going to drink alcohol, at least get a reliable and branded stock.” said the girl primly.   
  
“Bloody hell, Hermione…” said Ron, staring in awe. The rest of the group broke into laughter and cheering once more and the party resumed. Hermione winked at Ron and helped the twins to fill glasses and cups with drinks.   
  
Ron leaned over to Harry, “I think we’ve created a monster.”   
  
Harry just gave Ron a wry grin, and returned to watching the Gryffindors have a good time. His attention was devoted to looking for Katie however, but the elusive blonde was seemingly nowhere in sight. He thought he'd seen her a few times, but she was always behind someone larger, and being as short as she was, it was easy for her to find larger people to hide behind. That seemed to be the case anyway, as he never could get a clear look, and he was repeatedly approached by various housemates congratulating him on winning the Quidditch Cup once again.   
  
“Hello Harry,” came a light, lilting voice, and Harry turned around to look down at one Luna Lovegood, who was looking placidly back at him, still wearing the roaring lion headdress, “you seem more preoccupied than normal. Do you feel a buzzing between the ears?”   
  
“What? Uh…no. No, I don’t feel that,” said Harry, wondering what creature Luna would suggest as the cause behind his latest predicaments.   
  
“Not surprising,” said Luna blandly, and she gently thrust a cup into his hands, “this should cause some buzzing, though.”   
  
“Luna, how’d you get in here?” asked Harry, refraining from drinking the firewhiskey for the moment.   
  
“I followed you in, of course,” replied the girl, “I suppose wearing the team’s colours helped me blend in easily. Also, I’m not the only outsider here tonight.”   
  
She turned pointedly to the right and Harry noticed with a start that Hannah Abbott and Padma Patil were sharing drinks with Parvati and Lavender.   
  
“All we need now is someone from Slytherin here and we’ll have a full set,” remarked Harry dryly.   
  
Luna smiled at that and glanced towards the fireplace, and Harry could only goggle at the fact that he’d somehow missed the pair of Slytherin students milling with several seventh years. “Well, that’s uh...that’s…”   
  
Luna giggled and patted him on the arm gently, “You made this possible, Harry.”   
  
“How so?” asked Harry, though he had the feeling he knew the answer.   
  
“Your DA classes,” said Luna with a bland smile.   
  
Harry mused to himself that it was probably true, and he’d achieved an unexpected dream that he had from when he was younger: Unifying the four Houses under a common goal. Ron was most reluctant about the idea of allowing Slytherins into the unofficial club, but Hermione saw the value of Harry’s goal, and pointed it out in a way that Ron could value and understand, especially when Harry suggested bringing Draco into the club first.   
  
After all, there was wisdom in keeping your friends close and your enemies closer.   
  
Hermione, with help from Luna and Ginny, had charmed what became known as the DA Challenge Coins, with a creative array of features, amongst them emergency portkeys, severe clauses against betraying Harry or the DA, and a means to summon members. The betrayal clauses were a mixture of true punishments and some implied ones, such as becoming a squib. Hermione claimed that there _might_ be something that could take away a person’s magic, such as the Goblet of Fire, and in fact that was what inspired the idea of suggesting that betrayal would result in the loss of magic.   
  
This also helped weed out those who would be serious about learning to master their magic and spellwork, and who thought it was just a bit of fun. There _was_ fun, but it was also deadly serious. And they needed to be creative to avoid detection by Dolores Umbridge and her cohorts of Inquisitors. This was where Harry thought it would be good to have Slytherins in the club, as their cunning and guile proved a most invaluable asset to the budding organisation.   
  
Draco had been a harder sell than anticipated, given the years of animosity that had built up between him and Harry, and he’d been most suspicious, not to mention leery of any offer from a Gryffindor, but he had caved, more out of curiosity than true willingness, and Hermione had perhaps, forgotten to mention some specific clauses about membership until he was through the door, by which time, it was quite too late. Ron would never admit it aloud, but Harry suspected his best mate was actually impressed by the volume of expletives that Draco seemed familiar with and willing to use when he realized he’d been backed into a corner against his will.   
  
Nevertheless, the somewhat unwilling alliance had borne fruit quite quickly. Draco sullenly put feelers out and lured in several Slytherins, including his personal bodyguards, Crabbe and Goyle. Most were surprised, but seeing Draco, Crabbe and Goyle being a part of it had them convinced to give the Defence Association a try. While the Room of Requirement seemed an excellent venue for meeting, it was Blaise Zabini of Slytherin who pointed out that moving classes every now and then, even if to some less secure zones, would be prudent to keep the Inquisitors tripping up and failing to nail down the existence of the club for certain.   
  
Harry and his friends began to help teach the members how to defend themselves. Although rumours did get out about the existence of the DA, Umbridge had been unable to prove their whereabouts or existence for certain, though not for lack of trying, but the Slytherin members were a definite boon, and Draco worked as a double agent, joining the ranks of the Inquisitorial squad, and he became the inside track for Harry. After some months, Ron finally admitted to Harry that this was an amazing strategy. They stayed ten steps ahead of the squad at all times, and if it came down to it, they could portkey out.   
  
Harry often wondered if Dumbledore and the other professors made note of the portkey activities within the school. But if they did, they certainly didn’t mention it, though they had often given Harry knowing looks, and even on occasion, a wink.   
  
Though he wondered about the trump card he held should the club have been discovered. It was shortly after Christmas Break, when they returned to school, that Hermione and Luna found that by all rights and intents per the rules of magic, Harry was legally an adult, thanks to his forced participation in the Triwizard Tournament last term, which could only be participated by wizards and witches of age. Magic disregarded the fact that Harry was fourteen at the time, and he was considered of age as of now. More so since he won the tournament.   
  
Winning the tournament was a bittersweet memory for Harry. It had been a harrowing close call, but his actions saw Cedric and himself making it back to the school in one piece. The Hufflepuff was technically a co-champion, since they’d both grasped the magical prize at the exact same time. Harry hadn’t really cared for the prize money, but at Cedric’s insistence, they’d split the winnings. That night was horrific, and he knew, if not for the older boy’s actions, Harry likely would have died when Voldemort returned to power.   
  
Together, they helped each other escape the dark wizard’s clutches, and made a narrow escape, reusing the trophy to return to the school. Cedric had provided pensieve memories along with Harry to prove that Voldemort had returned. But that resulted in the Ministry doing their best to suppress word of this, to the chagrin of the triwizard champions, including Fleur and Viktor, both of whom believed the Hogwarts champions without question.   
  
“You’re thinking about that night, last year,” said Luna, bringing Harry back to the present.   
  
He had to marvel at how the girl sometimes seemed to be a mind-reader, and he gave a tired grin, “Yeah…kind of hard not to, given the follow up since then.”   
  
Umbridge had been sent to suppress the news and Harry as much as possible, but he did his best to keep his head down, whilst watching everything around him. Mad-Eye Moody had instilled enough instincts in him to keep his wits about him at all times. But that was the least of their concerns. Dumbledore had tried to alert the Ministry, firmly backing Cedric and Harry, but it had resulted in near disaster.   
  
Harry and his doltish cousin, Dudley, had been attacked by Dementors, whilst Cedric and his family were set upon by imperiused wizards and witches. Dumbledore in the meantime, had been beset by an unbelievable amount of all manner of dark creatures in his very own stronghold, at Hogwarts itself. The few professors who remained in the castle during that summer were reminded of the immense power possessed by the venerable wizard even in his waning years. Umbridge had immediately attempted to get Harry expelled and his wand snapped due to his use of magic in the presence of a Muggle, completely ignoring the fact that Dudley, as his cousin living under the same roof as himself, was more than aware of magic already, and further ignoring the fact that he had to defend himself.   
  
Drawing on Cedric’s actions a few months prior, Harry demanded to have his memory shared with all via pensieve, and he further offered to testify under Veritaserum. Dumbledore eventually called the entire farce into question, providing his own accounts and the testimonies of the professors who assisted him against the werewolves, vampires, dementors and so on that had chosen to attack Hogwarts en masse on the same day that the Hogwarts champions had been.   
  
While Dumbledore had started asking hard, pointed questions that gradually forced Umbridge to shut down the entire session, citing more pressing matters to deal with than one adolescent whose use of magic in public might have risked exposing the wizarding world to the Muggles, the woman decided to try her luck in controlling the masses at the school itself.   
  
Per Dumbledore’s advice and guidance, Harry had been careful not to provoke the woman, and instead, employed a vigilant watch, and kept whatever he knew to himself. Indeed, Umbridge often tried to provoke a response from Harry, as far as he could tell. She spoke falsehoods at every opportunity, or treated everyone like they were little children. It certainly grated on his and Ron’s patience on more than one occasion. He and his fellow fifth years wondered how in Merlin’s name they hoped to do well in their O.W.L. tests with the way the woman taught the DADA class.   
  
So everyone showed no small amount of gratefulness for the Defence Association club. The numbers had seemingly swelled to the point that the only people not in it, with the exception of Draco, were the members of the Inquisitorial Squad. But those were just the good times.   
  
“I owe you big time, Luna,” said Harry as he brought his mind back to the present for a while. “That little bit you and Hermione found out about me being a legal adult by magic is going to be a big help.”   
  
“Friends help each other,” replied Luna distractedly. “After all, before we met, I only had Ginny who I could call a friend. And you should drink that.”   
  
She’d gestured to the cup in his hand, and he smiled, slowly, almost reluctantly bringing it to his lips. Luna’s smile grew as he drew in a sip and just that little bit kicked in like a bludger to the face. “And George wanted to make something potentially stronger than this?” he rasped.   
  
“Yes,” said Luna, “I was rather disappointed that Hermione brought proper firewhiskey. I was hoping to write an article about teenagers, moonshine, and how they draw nargles in more quickly than a forest of mistletoes.”   
  
There was the Luna he knew, Harry just smiled and nodded, “I don’t know, Luna…you might still get the chance, those twelve bottles might not be enough.”   
  
“Oh, it is,” said Luna with a nod to herself, “I saw Hermione put two crates into her purse. But perhaps I can convince her to let Fred and George try making some moonshine anyway. That’s a nice name, isn’t it? Moonshine? I rather like it. Excuse me.”   
  
She immediately made a beeline for Hermione, then paused, looked around, saw Ron talking to Dean and Seamus, smiled, and headed over to him instead.   
  
Harry grinned and shook his head, silently wishing Ron luck, because he definitely caught the interests of a certain little blonde Ravenclaw.   
  
This brought to memory another blonde who had been on Harry’s mind for some time now, and it started much further back, just a few months after the start of term. Harry, Ron and Hermione had just been coming back from Hogsmeade when they saw Katie and Leanne ahead of them. The two were arguing, and Katie was stumbling, seemingly dazed and slightly disoriented. Then, to everyone’s horror, she started screaming, the cursed Opal Necklace slipping out of her grasp. Harry recognized it from when he first saw it, in Borgin & Burke’s before his second year, when he’d accidentally flooed into the shop.   
  
The girl had been floating up nearly six feet in the air, Leanne frantically trying to pull her friend back down by the legs, with Ron rushing in to help. Hermione tried to be more practical and cautious, using her wand to try summoning the girl back to the ground, but she suddenly crashed hard, and was so still that they’d thought her dead. Hagrid and Flitwick were the first to reach the scene, and Harry, remembering that the necklace had a warning label that said it had killed nineteen muggles before, narrowly saved Ron and Leanne from joining Katie. The hole in Katie’s glove was what exposed her to a limited extent of the curse, and even that had a fairly extreme effect on her.   
  
They hadn’t seen Katie for six months after that.   
  
Ginny had been brought in to be a replacement Chaser, and suspicions fell on all sorts of people, but no one could be identified or pinpointed as responsible. Some even thought it was Draco, but Hermione and, much to most people’s surprise, Ron, had vehemently defended the Slytherin, and he was eventually free of suspicion. Of course, this defence was only within the DA itself, and Hemione reminded the members that, as Draco was under the same oaths and clauses as the others, if he had betrayed anyone in the club, everyone would know.   
  
Outside the club though, as agreed upon by all the Slytherins, the Golden Trio and Draco continued to carry out their enmity with one another, to further allay suspicions that Draco was in cahoots with them. Blaise had complimented Harry, saying he had a fairly Slytherin mind when it came down to it.   
  
Katie had been released from St. Mungo’s with just enough time for her to train up and join the Quidditch team for their final match of the term, but as everyone soon saw to their dismay, she’d clearly lost her edge in the game. Harry personally thought she just needed more time to recover. After all, she’d only just come back to school after a six month coma, that could take a lot out of anyone.   
  
Taking a look around the room as he brought his mind to the present once more, he sighed as he still couldn’t see any sign of Katie. He was worried for the girl, as he remembered how powerless he and all the others felt as they saw her suffering in front of them, and the horrific ear-piercing screams as the curse took its toll on her.   
  
“HARRY!” cried Ron, “Come and see this!”   
  
Smiling, Harry walked over to join his friends.

~ O ~

The party went on for quite a while before a lull even began to show. The alcohol and Hermione’s supply certainly helped to keep things going. But it eventually quietened when it reached past midnight, and Harry stood at the table, looking at the few remaining bottles that had any liquor left. He was still on his first cup, and he’d barely touched the thing after his obligatory sip in front of Luna. The stuff was horrible, and it was a wonder that Ron could drink so much before finally succumbing.  
  
He’d been laughing, joking, and singing - horribly off-key - with Seamus, Dean, and the twins, before abruptly leaning back on the sofa, and passing right out. Now, Luna was resting her head on his shoulder, a contented smile on her face, as she held his hand. If Hermione had any thoughts on that scene, she certainly kept it to herself. Lavender had had a scathing remark to say, but a sharp look from Harry kept her from finishing any thoughts aloud.   
  
Now, those few who were sober enough to still walk, were assisting the far more drunken friends into the dormitories.   
  
Dobby popped into view, looked around the scene, and exclaimed, “Dobby is luckiest elf ever!”   
  
He then vanished and things started cleaning up by themselves magically.   
  
“I mush shay,” said George, arm-in-arm with Fred, “Thish wash the besh party by…far…”   
  
He hiccuped and Fred nodded his head, “Yesh, we need…Hermione wash the besh…”   
  
Grinning, Harry walked up to the two of them, “You two would be lucky if you made it upstairs by yourselves. Come on.”   
  
Maneuvering himself between the twins, he supported, half-carried them up the stairs, and noticed Katie helping the similarly inebriated pair of Angelina and Alicia. Both Harry and Katie were shorter than their drunken friends and were struggling with their loads. Katie gave Harry a small smile, and said a quick “Good night.” before turning to the girls dormitories and disappearing into the rooms. With a sigh, Harry continued on his trek up to the boys rooms and helped the twins to their beds before he headed to his own.   
  
“That was fun, wasn’t it?” asked Hermione just as Harry landed on his bed, and he jumped halfway up at his friend’s voice.   
  
“Hermione, what are you doing here?” asked Harry, wide-eyed.   
  
“Talking to you,” came the simple reply, “isn’t it obvious?”   
  
Harry rolled his eyes, but bit back his snarky retort, and instead said, “It was a lot of fun. Did you have a lot to drink?”   
  
Dumb question, really, looking at how flushed and unsteady the girl seemed, barely propping herself up on Ron’s bed, “Definitely more than I would say is socially acceptable…the hangover is going to be an absolute nightmare. Good thing I made a whole lot of sobering potions for everyone.”   
  
Harry grinned, “Only you would think so far ahead, and for everybody too.”   
  
“Of course,” said Hermione, “it’s good to have a little fun, kick back, and forget all the responsibilities for a while.”   
  
Recalling Ron’s query several months back, when Hermione first declared excitement about breaking the rules, Harry quoted his friend, “Who are you, and what have you done to Hermione?”   
  
The girl burst out in giggles, then she closed her eyes, and slowly slid down on her side, falling asleep almost immediately on the bed. With another sigh, Harry rolled her away from the side of the bed and covered her with the blanket. “Good night, Hermione.”   
  
Finally, he fell back onto his bed, and closed his eyes, thinking about golden snitches, golden butterbeer, and Chasers with dark golden hair.

~ O ~

“Well, it certainly took you long enough,” said a gruff man’s voice.  
  
Harry opened his eyes and found himself lying on something soft, but it wasn’t his bed, and the oddly coloured sky clued him in to the fact that he was most certainly not in his bedroom anymore. It looked like dawn blended with dusk somehow, and he could hear the sounds of an ocean lapping against the shore nearby.   
  
“Well, come on, get up already, young man, I don’t have all night,” said the voice again, urging him to sit up and look around.   
  
To his right stood a tall broad-shouldered man roughly in his forties or early fifties, with long dark brown, greying hair, a beard, and a curious fashion style. He wore a pale brown tunic with a light undershirt, the belt cinched around his waist, dark brown trousers underneath and dark boots. Hanging on his left thigh was a sword, and slipped into the belt on the right hip was what looked like a broad steel wand.   
  
Now that he was up, he began to notice more of the scenery around him. It was a peaceful, beautiful landscape. There were trees of all kinds and flowers in an infinite array of colours spread out along a path near him, that led to what looked like a meadow, behind him was a cove that led out into the ocean proper. The waters lapped noisily against fine white sand. A short swim away, near the center of the cove, was a tiny, round island with rocks and palm trees. A rooster stood at the top of the rocks, head twisting left and right in a watchful manner.   
  
“Where am I? And who are you?” asked Harry as he stood up warily. He wasn’t wearing what he had on as he laid down to sleep. Instead, he wore a skin-tight black t-shirt with matching long trousers, socks and soft shoes. The material felt stretchy and flexible, like he could move in any way without hindrance.   
  
The tall man gave a small smile, hands clasped behind his back. “All valid questions, young Master Potter.” he replied. “To answer your questions, you’re in my realm, a land of impossibilities, dreams and imaginations. Of ideas, concepts, and even perhaps, desires.”   
  
He made a gesture, beckoning Harry, and started on the path that Harry had seen earlier, only, the man took two steps forward and suddenly vanished, appearing in the far distance in the meadow. Harry ran along the path, desiring to catch up quickly to the man, and just like that, he was running next to him. Shocked by the sudden travel, Harry lost his footing and fell down, disappearing into the tall grass and sunflowers.   
  
When he got back to his feet, the man was smirking at him, standing still, with a curious rodent-like creature perched on his shoulder. Harry suddenly realized he felt something soft and fluffy on his head. Reaching up with both hands, he grasped soft downy fur and lifted it off. At first he thought it was just a little plump brown rabbit, but then he noticed the oddly shaped horn protruding from the center of its brow. The horn could best be described as crumpled.   
  
Harry blinked owlishly at the creature in his hands, its cute little nose twitching non-stop. He _had_ to tell Luna about this. And he noticed movement to his right.   
  
Glancing up, he saw none other than Luna herself, skipping through the meadow, heading straight for him. “Hello Harry,” said Luna, “I didn’t expect to see you here. Oh, you met Hopper!”   
  
The small sized girl reached out her hands to take the little animal off of him, and Harry allowed her to, still a little stunned at what he had just seen, what he was still seeing. “L-Luna...is that a…?”   
  
“What do you think it is, Harry?” asked Luna in a distracted manner as she nestled it in her arms. It seemed very content to let her do this.   
  
“Is that an actual crumple-horned snorkack?!?”   
  
Luna just smiled enigmaticly at Harry, and stroked the creature’s fur gently. Then she turned to look at the still unnamed man, and curtseyed gracefully, “My lord,” she said respectfully, “may I visit the Sanctuary?”   
  
After a moment, the man smiled and nodded, “You may, Lady of the Moon. As always, the Sanctuary is open to you and your cares.”   
  
She smiled happily, and nodded at Harry, then started skipping away, the snorkack comfortably in her arms. A moment later, she blinked out of sight.   
  
“Where’d she go?!?” demanded Harry. He had the distinct sensation that that was really Luna and not a dream or imagined version of her.   
  
“To the Sanctuary,” said the man simply, and as Harry’s mouth opened, a follow-up question obvious, he interrupted, “a place that lives up to its name. In my realm, it is a refuge. In time, you will learn, there are a great many dangers here, along with the beauty and light. It’s not heaven by any means, and yes, I am the protector of this land, but even I have my limits.”   
  
He turned so he was fully facing Harry, “Young Master Potter, my name is Quinn Gordon Jones.” He extended a hand to the teenager.   
  
Grasping the offered hand, Harry replied, “Harry Potter, though I suppose you already knew that. Could you just call me Harry, please?”   
  
“Very well,” said Quinn, “As you probably already know, your movement is radically different here. Through simple desire to be somewhere, you can arrive there near-instantaneously. Come along, there’s something I need you to see. I’ll go slow, so you can keep up.”   
  
He was gone in a blink and Harry looked around, spotting him at the edge of the meadow. He concentrated on the man, and at first, nothing happened, and only when he felt the desire to _be_ next to him did he immediately appear. A moment after, the man was gone again, and in the distance, near a mountain, he saw him. He was there once more, and as soon as he reached him, he was off to the next jump. He also realized that the man was making greater jumps each time, and after a while, he looked little more than a dot each time.   
  
Harry began to wish he could just sense the man’s presence and jump to him. To his surprise, at the next jump, he immediately looked to the right, and he just knew that Quinn was over there. He blinked into view next to him, and the man smiled down at Harry, “Very good, Harry,” he said, “I was rather hoping you’d pick up on that ability quickly. I’m pleased to say you didn’t disappoint. I’m going to go right where I want us to be, try and see if you can find me.”   
  
He vanished, and Harry immediately spun to look backwards, and he could feel a faint sense. Wherever Quinn had gone, it was very, very, far away. He concentrated and focused on his desire to be right where the man was. Something seemed to hold him back. It felt like a faint sense of touch. Clawed greying hands reaching out, wanting to pull him into the ground, wanting to smother him.   
  
He suddenly found, to his panic, that he really couldn’t breathe, and there were real greying hands clawing at him, grasping him, pulling him down, and the soft ground was giving way and covering him. He cried out, and then remembered the Sanctuary. It was a safe refuge. He had no desire stronger than to be in that place that instant.   
  
And he was.   
  
Panting and gasping for breath, he heard a low moaning sound in the distance, echoing through the air, and heaved a sigh of relief. He was in the Sanctuary, and he knew it. He felt safe, and at peace, though oddly cut off from something else. It felt like a missing limb, only he had all his legs and arms, but it still felt strange. Then he realized with sudden clarity what it was. Drawing his wand, he tried to cast, “ _Orchideus!_ ”   
  
Nothing happened.   
  
“ _Lumos!_ ”   
  
Still nothing.   
  
“ _Incendio!_ ”   
  
He couldn’t feel or cast magic in here.   
  
“Hello Harry.”   
  
He jumped and turned to see Luna, now holding what he thought was a hamster at first, but hamsters didn’t have horns, dragon wings, or a spiked scaly tail, and shiny black eyes.   
  
“Luna...” said Harry, “...you’re really here, aren’t you?”   
  
The girl hummed a non-committal response and reached up with a hand, caressing his cheek, her thumb wiping at something and when she pulled her hand back, he saw blood on her thumb. His blood.   
  
“Do watch where you go, Harry,” said Luna, “there are dangers in the World of Dreams.”   
  
“Yeah...” agreed Harry, “...so I’ve learnt.”   
  
The girl smiled encouragingly at him, then patted him on the shoulder, “Best you carry on, now, it’s not very polite to keep the Lord of Dreams waiting.”   
  
“Quinn?”   
  
“Yes, that’s what he likes to call himself sometimes. But I suspect he has a lot more names than he shares with us. I’m not sure that Quinn Gordon Jones is even his real name...names have power, you know. Also, he strikes me more as a Zeus, or perhaps Jupiter.”   
  
Luna looked up from her musings and her eyes widened, “You need to go now, Harry. We can talk later if you want. Go.”   
  
“All right,” said Harry and he started to try to work out where the man was, when he paused and looked at the girl. He pointed at the hamster-like creature in her hands, “I saw that on his shoulder earlier. What is it?”   
  
Luna smiled dreamily, and stroked the creature’s fur, “A bat-winged hobnoblin. But the Lord of Dreams insists that they are just dragon hamsters, or hamgons, for short. Rather silly, I think, because it’s definitely a bat-winged hobnoblin. Hamgons are more temperamental.”   
  
Harry sort of regretted asking. He could feel Quinn’s presence more strongly from here, and in a blink, he disappeared. The moment he left the sanctuary, he could feel magic again, and he felt such immense relief. He never wanted to feel that again, even if the Sanctuary seemingly offered a safe refuge, the feeling of being cut off from magic was a highly unpleasant experience. The journey to Quinn was also unlike all the other times when he blinked to a spot. Instead, it felt like being pulled through a tunnel, with an odd sensation of freezing and burning all at once, and losing his equilibrium completely.   
  
A heavy hand caught hold of him as he stumbled to his destination, “Careful, Harry. What happened to you? You took longer than expected to arrive.”   
  
The man looked Harry over with concern, noticing the light cuts and injuries on him.   
  
“Something tried to grab me and kill me,” answered Harry truthfully, “grey hands were…”   
  
“Grey!?” demanded Quinn, “The hands of the dead? Pulling you into the ground?”   
  
“Yeah,” said Harry, “what were they?”   
  
“Everything I stand against.” said Quinn. “Harry, what is the opposite of dreams?”   
  
That seemed like a simple enough question, “Nightmares?” ventured Harry.   
  
“In the simplest, most direct terms, I suppose that would suffice.” nodded Quinn, “But the reality is much, much more complicated than that.”   
  
Harry looked at the man thoughtfully, but he waited for Quinn to explain more, “The World of Dreams, as your young friend has told you, is in fact, its own reality. At times, most often when one sleeps, or even daydreams, they can briefly traverse here. Most people cannot perceive the world in its fullest, with the exception of Miss Lovegood, and now, you.”   
  
“Why only us?” asked Harry.   
  
“In the case of young Miss Lovegood, you could say it was her destiny, her fate...her dream.” Quinn looked at Harry with a small smile, “She was gifted with a level of perception beyond the norm of most people her age. As for you...well, that’s a special circumstance. But before I get to that, it’s best I told you a little bit of the problems faced by us, by my world.”   
  
As they spoke, Harry had noticed people blinking in and out of sight, he supposed these were the people that Quinn spoke of, who briefly visited the world, before going on to what would probably be normal dreams. He saw Hermione appear for a moment, looked around, but not in Quinn or Harry’s direction, and then disappeared.   
  
“So it seems like you ran into a servant of Malficetoph, called the Endless Black,” said Quinn, “they are comparable to your Dementors, a few of which do exist here too. Their ability to consume souls, means they can consume dreams, even fates. What concerns me is that the Endless Black dared to enter my lands, and moreover, attack you, whilst you’re under my protection. I assume you found your way to the Sanctuary?”   
  
At Harry’s nod, Quinn sighed, “I offer you my apologies, Harry. I had not anticipated such audacity this early.”   
  
“You were expecting it to happen, though?” asked Harry.   
  
“Yes, indeed. It’s part of the reason why I brought you here, to make you aware of the extent of the danger that you face now.” Quinn folded his arms over his chest, and the land shifted around them. The place was dark, and shadows creeped all around. Harry felt uneasy and even afraid.   
  
“This is the border to the lands of nightmares. I don’t need to tell you that it is folly to venture here on your own.”   
  
Harry honestly didn’t need to be told twice for this.   
  
“What you need to understand is that nightmares aren’t just bad dreams, Harry. In some ways, you could say that they are the source of the problems. The antithesis to living, but at the same time, they cannot be considered an entropy or death in any conventional form. They exist, serving a purpose. You could say that they are motivators by the emotion of fear. Due to your experiences in life, you have a far greater familiarity with fear and nightmares.”   
  
“Yeah,” said Harry quietly, “wish I didn’t.”   
  
And just like that, they were somewhere else. It was less oppressive, and more pleasant, but still not as nice as the place he’d been when he’d awakened, or the Sanctuary, which was almost like a form of paradise, though he hadn’t paid close attention to his surroundings while there.   
  
“Where are we now?” asked Harry.   
  
“This is what I wanted to show you.” Quinn pointed to a cave with a brightly lit entrance. “Understand that what you will see is not something that’s actually there, but merely an understanding of what it is, and what it looks like. Go on in, I promise you, you shall not fall under attack here, now. I will keep watch until you are inside, then I will join you.”   
  
Nodding, Harry made his way towards the cave, then remembered he could just be there immediately, and so in a split second, he suddenly found himself at the entrance. The cave within was beautiful. There were crystals and gems of all kinds adorning the walls, and they all glowed with their own colours and with their own light sources. There was a pedestal of some sort in the center of the largest room within the cave. It definitely looked artificial, and floating over it was a multi-hued cylindrical crystal shard.   
  
It spun in a lazy orbit on the pedestal, its beauty dimming everything else around it. Harry felt peace and happiness just being near to it. “What is it?” he asked, without bothering to check if Quinn was nearby.   
  
“The Crystal of Lost Dreams. Dreams, like nightmares, are far more than just mere imagination, thoughts, desires. Dreams can and often are, the beginning of ambitions, destinies, goals and possibilities.” Quinn circled the pedestal, looking at the crystal. “It’s a treasure, a valuable device, and in the wrong hands, a weapon.”   
  
“How can it be used as a weapon?” asked Harry. His mind considered the beautiful sceneries he’d witnessed earlier. Dreams seemed pretty hard to weaponize.   
  
“Harry,” said Quinn, “based on everything I told you, you must realize that dreams are not limited to just good people. Voldemort certainly dreams. He dreams of conquest, of victory over everyone that stands against him, or killing you. With the crystal in his hands his dreams will become reality…”   
  
Perfect, one more thing to worry about.   
  
“So I need to find it first, before Voldemort does.”   
  
Quinn nodded.   
  
“I don’t suppose you can just tell me where it is?”   
  
“Sadly, the crystal was lost before my time, Harry, I am sorry,” said Quinn, “but I promise you this; I will do all I can to help you on the way. There is however, one other matter.”   
  
“What’s that?”   
  
“The other lords do not trust you.”   
  
Harry blinked at that.   
  
“O-kay?” he said, “I think I might need a bit more than that.”   
  
“I’m not a supreme ruler over the world of dreams. There is a council of lords, and I often stand in conflict to the ideals and morals of my fellows. I believe in a more proactive stance. The others prefer deliberation and endless consideration. In the meantime, Malficetophe and his lot are ever moving, ever plotting, ever scheming. You could say we are a counterbalance to each other, dreams and nightmares. But lately, dreams have been giving way, ceding more to the nightmares than holding them in check.”   
  
He sighed, “This will reflect in your world, in subtle ways, and sometimes overtly.”   
  
“What can I do to stop this?” asked Harry.   
  
“Find the crystal, Harry,” said Quinn, “it’s everyone’s only chance. I strongly suspect Malficetophe has formed an alliance with Voldemort. I’m sure you’ve noticed you haven’t been having the usual nightmares since his return.”   
  
Harry nodded slowly, realizing this was true.   
  
“Well, I’ve done my best to shield you, but as I said before, the other lords do not trust you, and believe you will seize the power of the crystal for yourself. You will be tempted, Harry, and while the crystal was created for the intent of betterment of life, it can be manipulated or used for selfish and nefarious desires. Be mindful of this.”   
  
He clasped his hands behind him, and they were both transported to where Harry first woke up, the sounds of the ocean a dull roar, “There will be five tests you must take, as you begin your search for the crystal. Two will be tests of faithfulness and loyalty, one will be temptation to take the easy way out, one will test your resolve, and one will be a test of your character. There will be no set time or order for when these tests will take place. You must be ready.”   
  
He looked at the sky, and said, “The dawn approaches, you will wake soon. Remember what I’ve told you, Harry. I will come to you whenever I can. Remember one other thing: Do _not_ enter the World of Dreams with your living body. The danger to you will be a hundredfold, and even I will not be able to protect you should you choose to do so.”   
  
“I don’t even know how to come here when I’m asleep,” said Harry, “how do you expect me to know how to physically enter this world?”   
  
“These things you will quickly learn when next you return,” said Quinn, “it will be instinctual. Harry, the alliance between Malficetophe and Voldemort is nothing short of disastrous for both our worlds. The nightmares have forgotten their true task, and Voldemort is short-sighted, but he is not incompetent by any means, and should he master the powers of the crystal, there is nothing he cannot accomplish. Good luck, my young friend. The hopes and dreams of many rests on your success.”   
  
The rooster on the tiny island crowed, and Harry’s vision turned white.

~ O ~

He slowly opened his eyes, and found himself back on his four-poster bed. He slowly sat up, it was about seven in the morning. Hermione dozed quietly on Ron’s bed. She probably wouldn’t be up for a while more, he mused. It seemed like he was the only one to bother going to bed as none of the boys, not even Neville, was in the room. That, or they saw Hermione and decided to sleep elsewhere, though that seemed improbable.  
  
He got up and got ready for the day, taking a nice comfortable shower. When he was done with his daily routine, he quietly made his way down to the Gryffindor living room. The place was mostly pristine, thanks to Dobby and the other house elves. It took some convincing, and a direct meeting with Hogwarts house elves themselves, to convince Hermione to give up on, or at least, modify her ideas with S.P.E.W., since then, the tower had returned to its usual level of cleanliness.   
  
Only the spots with people lying on them were left alone, so it had an odd look of clean against pockets of not so clean.   
  
Luna was nowhere to be found, and Ron had the entire couch to himself, sprawled out with limbs everywhere.   
  
“Heyyy...mate,” said Ron sleepily as he looked blearily up at Harry.   
  
“Wh-time izzit?” he asked.   
  
“Half past seven.” replied Harry, “how’re you feeling?”   
  
“Blimey...early-rissr…” Ron muttered, “...nnn...head ‘urts.”   
  
“Considering how much you had to drink last night, I’m not surprised,” said Harry evenly, “Hermione says she made hangover potions for everyone. Oh, I think that’s it right there.”   
  
He walked around the couch to the table George had planned to make moonshine on, and retrieved a vial of sickly green fluid. He popped it open and took a sniff, then regretted it instantly. “Eugh! Yeah, that’s a hangover potion all right. Here you go, mate.”   
  
“Don’ ‘ave t’be so chipper...” said Ron as he clumsily grabbed the vial, and slowly sat up. He stared into the void for a moment, then suddenly drank the contents of the vial in one pull.   
  
He swore and coughed, and nearby, Lavender grumbled and pleaded for Ron to shut up. “ _Blimey!_ ” he shook his head and looked suddenly more alert, “That’s got to be the most horrific thing I ever tasted!”   
  
“Maybe it’s like a deterrent or something,” said Harry in a musing manner, “if you want to get drunk and get a hangover, you better be prepared for self-inflicted torture to avoid the pounding headaches.”   
  
Ron nodded slowly, “Yeah, that’s got to be it.”   
  
His eyes brightened up then, “I feel great now, though. Oy, what happened to you?”   
  
Harry blinked at his friend.   
  
“Good morning, Harry,” said Luna, from the staircase leading from the girls’ dormitories.   
  
Harry reached up with a palm to touch his face, where Luna had placed her hand in the dream, and he came away with a light dabbing of blood. He _thought_ the water stung a little and when he toweled himself dry. But he had completely failed to look at his towel or look in the mirror. “Things just got a lot more complicated…” said Harry, ignoring Luna’s greeting.   
  
“Did you take a run through the Forbidden Forest or something?” asked Ron, “you looked kind of cut up.”   
  
“Not quite...” said Harry, and he noticed Luna was making a beeline for the portrait door, holding something in her hand. “...one minute Ron, I’ll get back to you. How about you help distribute the hangover vials to the others?”   
  
“Yeah,” said Ron, and he slowly got up, as Harry ran after Luna, who had already slipped out the door.   
  
“Luna, hey Luna!” the girl was skipping rather quickly, and Harry had to break into a dash to catch up to her. He wished he could blink like he did in the World of Dreams.   
  
Luna finally stopped and turned to look at him, “Yes Harry?”   
  
“What’s in your hand?” he asked, he had a strong suspicion, though.   
  
“......” Luna seemed to be debating giving an answer.   
  
“Luna...was it just a dream I had? I really need to know.”   
  
“Of course it was just a dream,” said Luna, “I just happened to be in it as well.”   
  
Not wrong, but not a direct answer either. “Do you know what Quinn wanted to tell me?”   
  
Luna shook her head. “Mostly I visit the Sanctuary and the animals in it. You can’t cast or feel magic while you’re in there. I don’t mind it very much. It’s quite peaceful.”   
  
Well that confirmed at last for Harry that Luna was really there, and it was far more than just a dream, as Luna claimed it to be.   
  
“How long have you been visiting the World of Dreams?” he queried out of curiosity.   
  
“Since my mother died. I rather hoped I’d see her there, after all, the Sanctuary is a lot like heaven in some ways. I thought, therefore, that my mother would be there.”   
  
“Was she?”   
  
The girl nodded, “Sometimes, but I can’t really tell if it’s just my imaginations, or it was really her.”   
  
It made Harry’s heart ache, as he wondered if he’d be able to see his parents too. He shoved the thought aside for the time being. “Can I see what you’ve got in your hand, please? I’m really curious.”   
  
“Curiosity killed the cat, you know?”   
  
“Yes, but satisfaction brought him back.” retorted Harry.   
  
At this, Luna smiled, and she slowly raised her hand, lifting away her other palm, to reveal, “That’s a hamgon.”   
  
“No,” said Luna, “it’s a bat-winged hobnoblin.”   
  
A thought began to form in Harry’s mind, and his heart began to beat faster, even as the hamgon reared up on its hind legs to sniff the air in Harry’s general direction. “Luna...d-do you...do you physically enter the World of Dreams?”   
  
Luna didn’t seem to react, but Harry saw her stiffening, and the Hamgon seemed to sense Luna’s actions, and it rested its paws on her palm and nuzzled her gently. That was as much an answer to Harry as a full confession. And as far as he knew, hamgons didn’t physically exist outside of the World of Dreams, until now. How would one even go about breeding a hamster with a dragon. For that matter, who would want to?   
  
“Why do you ask?” said Luna, and Harry fixed the girl with a firm look.   
  
“Lunaaa,” he dragged the last part of her name in a warning tone, “what else did you bring with you?”   
  
It explained why she was not with Ron, and how she appeared from the bedrooms. Probably exiting from the world there as a more conspicuous means.   
  
“I...” a crumple-horned snorkack hopped out of the lion headdress that she’d been holding, “...Hopper!”


	3. Chapter 2: Daydreams & Awakenings

.   
  


**~~{ *(o)*(o)*(o)*(o)*(o)* }~~** **  
  
**

**Author’s Mumbo-Jumbo:** Okay, so here’s the next installment of the Crystal of Lost Dreams. I don’t know if anyone’s thinking it, but Luna’s just a friend here. The story will be entirely from Harry’s perspective only, and it will see more Katie eventually. But for now, we’ll see more of Harry’s other friends, of which he has quite a few...and I’m sure we’d all like to find out how things play out now that I’ve established events happened earlier or rather differently from canon.   
  
**Dishonest Disclaimer:** **  
** It’s mine, you hear me?! All the characters, the world, J.K. Rowling, various publishers, Warner Bros™, All mine! So much money is being made, and all copyright infringements are totally intended! I own it all, therefore I write stories about them in FanFiction. Because it’s mine! My...preciousss...  


* * *

**Chapter 2: Daydreams & Awakenings  
**

* * *

So it turned out that Luna’s lion headdress carried far more than it looked like it could. Harry resolved to talk to Hermione about her rule-breaking tendencies, because it just  _ might _ be getting a little out of hand if Luna was taking a cue from his bushy-haired best friend. As soon as Hopper escaped the headdress, Luna had thrust it at Harry so she could go after the fleeing snorkack.   
  
Harry looked in the headdress and saw over a dozen twitching noses aimed upwards at him, and the gleaming eyes of more hamgons than Harry particularly wanted to see at any one time. In fact, he realized it might have been prudent for him to ask what sort of abilities the winged, spike-tailed hamsters had, if any. And just how temperamental they were.   
  
He watched Luna trying to grasp the running snorkack, which seemed to want to do nothing but hop around for miles on end. Luna’s arms were flailing wildly about as she ran one way, then another. Harry watched this for a while until he took note of something.   
  
Luna’s hands were flailing wildly.   
  
Both of them.   
  
Hands which were, up until a while ago, holding at least one hamgon.   
  
“What was Quinn thinking...?” muttered Harry as he frantically scanned the area for the flying rodent. Since it could fly, he reckoned it was airborne right now, so his eyes sought the ceilings on a few occasions. It was like hunting for a snitch.   
  
The Lord of Dreams allowed Luna to physically enter his realm and take animals out of there, but warned Harry to never do the same? Seemed like a double standard.   
  
“Harry?” said a soft, familiar voice, and Harry turned to look at Katie Bell.   
  
As it was sunday, she hadn’t bothered with a uniform, but instead, wore a spotted blue blouse under a bright red coat, skin-tight black leggings and soft black shoes. She used a black headband to keep her golden locks out of her eyes. She still looked pale, and her eyes were red-rimmed, as if she’d been crying recently, or she was far more ill than Harry had initially assumed.   
  
“What are you doing?” asked the girl, and she looked past him, “And why is Luna chasing a rabbit?”   
  
She paused for a moment, then shook her head slowly, “Okay, nevermind about Luna chasing rabbits. Why are you holding her headdress? And what in Merlin’s name is that thing on  _ your _ head?”   
  
_ These dreamland animals seem to like perching on my head _ , thought Harry as he reached up with one hand to grab the hamgon. So far, so good, the animal didn’t seem inclined to bite him. If anything, it was more curious about him than anything else. But when he tried to stuff it in with the others of its kind inside the headdress, it gave him a warning bite and pulled free of his hold and clambered up his arm to perch on his shoulder.   
  
Evidently, it wanted to stay with him.   
  
“Uh...” said Harry intelligently, “...it’s a hamgon.”   
  
“What?”   
  
“It’s a dragon-hamster hybrid...” said Harry dejectedly, he couldn’t see a way to hide the fact that it wasn’t a normal hamster. And wait till she saw the “rabbit” Luna was still chasing around up close and noticed the crumpled horn sticking out of its brow.   
  
“Uh-huh...” Katie’s mouth stayed parted, “...how...did this happen?”   
  
Harry ran a hand through his hair, “You’d have to ask Luna.”   
  
Katie took a look at the Ravenclaw, who was now resorting to pouncing at the snorkack, but the rabbit-like creature was just too clever.   
  
“No, I don’t think I will,” said Katie, “I’m asking you. And you obviously know something about it, given that you specified its name.”   
  
“Look, all I know is, it’s a crossbreed of a dragon and a hamster...that’s it. That’s all I know.”   
  
The hamgon in question suddenly took flight, circling a surprised and nervous Katie, and she flinched instinctively, but it was unperturbed by her behaviour and managed to land on her shoulder eventually, where it started cleaning itself.   
  
“And apparently it likes you,” said Harry, “I think.”   
  
“That’s reassuring,” said Katie, her voice wavering a little as she tried to look at the winged rodent with her peripheral, “I guess it’s like Hagrid’s cross-breeding of a fire crab and a manticore. Only, this one’s cuter, and friendlier. Wait...”   
  
She looked at Harry in alarm, “Does it breathe fire?!?”   
  
“Of course it does,” exclaimed Luna from nearby, as she tried to corner the snorkack, “it wouldn’t be much of a bat-winged hobnoblin if it  _ didn’t  _ breathe fire.”   
  
Seemingly sensing Katie’s unease, the hamgon leapt from her shoulder back to Harry’s, who was also slightly more nervous now, despite the hamgon’s docile behaviour.   
  
“You sure know how to pick interesting friends,” said Katie, looking thoughtfully at Luna, then smiled wanly, “well, I’m going to get breakfast. I’ll see you there. Without the hamgon, I hope.”   
  
The creature in question looked up keenly at Katie, intelligence clear in its gleaming eyes. It sniffed the air, then went back to cleaning itself.   
  
“See you at breakfast,” mumbled Harry, and he turned just in time to see the snorkack running straight at him, and with some good timing, and a little luck, Harry moved the lion headdress to catch it mid-leap. Luna caught up and looked more than a little harried.   
  
“So, Luna,” said Harry in a false light tone, “you want to tell me how you got snorkacks and hamgons from the World of Dreams and brought them here? Or...should I be asking why you’re doing this?”   
  
From his conversation with Quinn, he had the impression that this was quite likely unacceptable. Considering that injuries sustained in a dream carried over into reality, and what the man had warned him about physically entering the world, it didn’t occur to Harry that one might be able to take things out of the dreamworld into the waking world.   
  
“Good heavens,” said the Fat Lady, and the two teenagers looked up at the woman in the portrait, “What on earth are you two going on about?”   
  
With a small sigh, Harry looked at his friend, and said, “To be continued.”   
  
“Yes Harry,” said Luna with a nod, and a sincere look in her eyes. Harry hoped that meant he’d get some answers soon, “let’s join Katie for breakfast. I fancy some pudding.”   
  
“Is there ever a time that you don’t fancy pudding?” asked Harry as they turned to head down, before Ron caught up to them.   
  
“Never thought I’d see the day I got up before Hermione did,” remarked the redhead jovially, “that’s a really brilliant headdress you made, Luna.”   
  
“Thank you, Ron,” said Luna, pleased by the boy’s compliment, and he took it from Harry’s hands, who realized only belatedly that Ron was going to try putting it on.   
  
“RON, NO!” said Harry and Luna at the same time, but it was too late. Ron slipped the headdress on.   
  
“What?” asked Ron, looking at the two, perplexed, “What’s wrong?”   
  
“Erm, nothing, really,” said Harry, “just wasn’t sure it’d fit your head. You feel okay?”   
  
“Fine, really. Seems to fit okay.” Ron grinned, “C’mon, mate, I’m famished, and I need something, anything, to wash out the taste of the potion I took.”   
  
He led the way to the Great Hall, then paused, and looked back, his eyes landing on Harry’s shoulder, where a quiet little hamgon sat, “Mate...what’s that?”   
  
“It’s a...” started Luna.   
  
“...hamgon, one of Hagrid’s latest cross-breeding projects.” Harry interjected, not quite sure what Luna was going to go with, but it might be easier to deflect additional questions if one of the professors was mentioned.   
  
“Huh,” said Ron, “hamgon, eh? A hamster and a dragon? Wonder what Hagrid’s gonna think up next. Seems too small and cute for his preferences.”   
  
Harry just shrugged helplessly, and Ron reciprocated the gesture, then shoved the doors to the hall open. Luna glanced thoughtfully at Harry, then smiled dreamily, and skipped in, heading for the Ravenclaw table.   


~ O ~

As it was a Sunday, most people chose to sleep in, especially the Gryffindor revellers of the night before. Some had even managed to pick themselves up to get to their dorm rooms on their own after Harry had left, according to Ron. At that moment, only Katie, Ron and Harry filled the Gryffindor table.  
  
Katie was mostly picking at her food, but she made little to no attempt at actually eating any of it, from Harry’s observation. Ron, on the other hand, was the total opposite. The boy was eating with his usual gusto and appreciation for the school house elves’ culinary skills. It sometimes made Hermione sick to watch him, though Harry personally often found it amusing. George and Fred normally would egg him on with teasing commentary about him not eating enough.  
  
It’s a true wonder that he didn’t put on more weight.  
  
After the heady victory of the day before, and other than this morning’s little adventure with Hopper the snorkack, Harry felt like this would be a pleasant and wonderful day.  
  
Mad-Eye Moody’s “CONSTANT VIGILANCE” signature words would reverberate through his head a moment later.  
  
“Ah-hem-hem!” said a voice that virtually everyone had come to universally hate, and it nearly made Ron choke on the chicken he’d been eating.  
  
Katie also jumped and looked up at Dolores Umbridge, who was standing right behind Harry, looking down at him with what she might’ve thought was a pleasant smile, but neither Harry nor probably anyone else would think it was so.  
  
“Mr. Potter,” said the woman in her usual simpering, girlishly high-pitched voice, and that insincere smile, “since you are quite finished with your breakfast, I would like to have a word with you in my office. It’s rather important.”  
  
Harry was quite confident that the woman was the only one who would think his newly filled plate classified as being finished with it. Dobby popped into view with a crack, standing on the bench next to Harry and peering suspiciously at Umbridge, who stepped back with a look of mild surprise. Across the table, a little further away from Harry and Ron, Katie sat, watching with interest, and a little concern.  
  
Although she was gone for most of the term, she had been part of the Defence Association, and thus looked ready to act on the word of Ron or Harry, if they’d simply ask.  
  
Harry noticed that Dobby was about to say something, and his expression was surprisingly thunderous. Given the amount of changes Umbridge had been implementing, all in an effort to establish more and more control over the school, including firing teachers she deemed unfit to teach, he didn’t want the woman deciding that house elves were to be removed as well, so he spoke up before anyone else could, “Yes, professor. Right away.”  
  
“Wonderful,” said Umbridge, her smile becoming more unpleasant to Harry, “come along, then.”  
  
“But Harry Potter sir...!” said Dobby anxiously, and Harry waved him off gently.  
  
“It’s okay, Dobby,” whispered Harry, trying to placate the excitable creature. Dobby gripped his long ears with both hands, looking absolutely miserable, and he clearly wanted to protest.  
  
As he headed out, he saw Luna walk over to the Gryffindor table and started speaking with Dobby, Ron dividing his attention between watching the curious girl and Harry. Outside the hall, Hermione and some of the other Gryffindor students were finally coming down for breakfast. Hermione saw Professor Umbridge and Harry following behind her, and she turned her palm, flashing the DA Challenge Coin at him for a brief moment, with a look of concern on her face, but he shook his head slightly, and subtly waved his hand, turning down the offer for assistance.  
  
This had been a long time coming, by Harry’s reckoning. Umbridge suspected that Harry was up to something, but her Inquisitorial Squad and Mr. Filch were ineffective and couldn’t locate the secret club, thanks to Draco and the other DA Slytherin members, who put their cunning and guile to good use, and kept the organisation safe from discovery.  
  
Nevertheless, the woman had been quite suspicious of where so many students would disappear for whole periods of time, especially during free study. Various members had been individually cornered or called to Umbridge’s office for a “chat”, which they later revealed had been nothing short of an interrogation.  
  
Not even the Slytherins had been exempt of suspicion, as it turned out. The drawback of many of the house being the majority of the Inquisitorial Squad meant the select few who had joined the DA were watched closely. Marietta Edgecomb of Ravenclaw had been distraught when she’d returned one day. Apparently, in an attempt to force her cooperation, Umbridge had none-too-subtly threatened her mother’s job. But the fear of losing her magic was greater, and she did not cave, but she had become extremely upset, and considered leaving the group, though the Slytherin students in the DA had pointed out to her that it wouldn’t make a difference to Umbridge.  
  
The strangest part, noted by the several students who’d spoken to Hary about their conversations with the woman, had been how she’d said that the students would not be able to lie, and she would know. Two had added that they’d heard her muttering something about asking Snape what he’d given her. They’d all been leery, as Hermione theorized that Umbridge might be dosing the students with Veritaserum, and strongly urged anyone who spoke to her in her room not to accept any food or drink offered by her.  
  
With that in mind, Harry determined that he was not going to take any chances with the woman in front of him. As they reached the stairway, however, Dumbledore approached them with a genial smile on his face. “Ah, Professor Umbridge, I was rather hoping I’d run into you,” said the man in his grandfatherly voice, “there’s a matter in one of the class curriculums that we must discuss with all due alacrity.”  
  
Umbridge fixed the man with a smile plastered onto her face, though, even from the slight angle that Harry had of the woman’s face, he could tell it was far from genuine, and if the glint in her eye was anything to go by, he thought anyone other than Dumbledore might have apologized and backed away. But it was Dumbledore that was facing her, and he simply kept his far more genuine smile on his face, and a twinkle in his eyes.  
  
Just as the silence was starting to become awkward, Umbridge finally spoke, “Well, I’m sure it is important, but I’m afraid it will simply have to wait a while.”  
  
She spoke to him sweetly, her voice becoming somehow more oddly pleasant, but there was a steel there that brooked no arguments. “As you can see, I have a prior meeting with Mr. Potter here.”  
  
Seemingly noticing Harry for the first time, the old man took a breath and expressed mild surprise, “Oh, that’s excellent, actually!” said Dumbledore merrily, “This can’t wait, I’m afraid, and I have to impose on you to meet with us both. I’m sure that what I have to discuss with you would be of great interest to Mr. Potter, as it concerns a class he is taking, and I’m sure there’s really no secrets between the three of us, is there?”  
  
He turned to look directly at Harry, a meaningful expression on his face, and Harry figured the man wanted him to play along, not that Harry was opposed to it, as Dumbledore was nothing short of a Godsend. “No secrets sir,” said Harry, and he looked back at Umbridge.  
  
If looks could kill, Dumbledore likely would have died a hundred times over, and Harry watched Umbridge smile more, but it had a definite sinister edge to it. “Very well, headmaster,” said the woman.  
  
She adjusted the little black bow on top of her head and once more led the way up the stairs to her office. Dumbledore’s beard and moustache lifted in a grin, and he too began to follow, with Harry bringing up the rear.  
  
Once Harry was inside, Umbridge firmly shut the door behind them using her wand. She made a quick gesture with her free hand to the two chairs across from her desk as she settled into her own.  
  
“Tea?” asked Umbridge, looking pointedly at Harry, but it was Dumbledore who answered.  
  
“Oh, don’t mind if I do!” said the headmaster happily.  
  
Umbridge’s head snapped to look over at Dumbledore, and for a split second her deceptively pleasant veneer dropped before it was back up again. “And you, Harry?”  
  
“No, thank you,” answered Harry, taking a cue from Dumbledore and smiling back at her.  
  
“Oh, I do insist you try it at least, dear,” said Umbridge, as she reached into a drawer and pulled out a small box with a white packaging, “this tea was brought in fresh from India.”  
  
Flicking her wand, she began to have the pack tear itself open, a teapot filled with hot water, and both began to mix into a teacup with the spoon stirring it. It seemed innocent enough, but Harry was confident that the contents were anything but. He was about to come up with a lie that he was feeling queasy, when Dumbledore took the entire matter out of his hands in a rather spectacular way.  
  
Using what must have been wandless magic, the teacup and saucer floated up and went straight to the headmaster’s hands, and without any pomp or delay, lifted the cup to his lips, much to Harry’s alarm, if what he suspected were the contents of the drink was true.  
  
“Professor Dumbledore,” protested Umbridge with an obvious hint of annoyance in her voice, “I did not make that for you.”  
  
Dumbledore’s grip on the teacup almost slipped, and a bit of it spilt onto the saucer in his other hand, and he looked apologetically at Umbridge first, then at Harry, “Oh, do forgive my manners. I’m afraid I was so excited to experience the taste of this tea. It’s most remarkable indeed.”  
  
“That’s okay, professor,” said Harry, but he watched the headmaster worriedly, “as I said, I’m fine without it.”  
  
Umbridge looked conflicted for a moment, but then the false smile was back on, and she crossed her arms over her large chest, “Well, headmaster, what was it you wanted to talk with me about?”  
  
“Ah, yes, to the matter at hand,” said Dumbledore, as he placed the tea and saucer on the desk in front of him, “I was rather hoping we could discuss the replacement of Professor Charity Burbage, whom you deemed unfit to teach her class, Muggle Studies.”  
  
This came as a surprise to Harry, who had not been aware that Professor Burbage had fallen prey to Umbridge’s firing, alongside Professor Trelawney. The woman now resided in the castle but could not teach any longer. So, Burbage was destined to join Trelawney in one of the towers?  
  
“ _Miss_ Burbage,” said Umbridge, pointedly removing the title of professor, “is not needed, and neither is her class, quite frankly. Per the regulations of the Educational Degree, Number Twelve: Hogwarts School will be subject to informal scrutiny by an appointed Ministry member.”  
  
Dumbledore stroked his beard thoughtfully as he nodded his head, then looked at her, eyes twinkling, “I take it then that you have decided the Muggle Studies...”  
  
“...is not a necessary curriculum, nor one that should be allowed any longer. And do keep in mind, Albus, that it is well within the Minister’s right, as well as the Board of Governors to seal this in an affirmed magical contract, which, if not adhered to, will breach the sacred rules and regulations, as has been established by the _Ministry of Magic_.”  
  
Harry could practically hear the capitalizations of the title of the ministry. She looked every bit a predator that had its prey right where it wanted it. Dumbledore however, looked largely unaware of this predicament.  
  
“So, while you may choose to allow those women to reside within the castle,” Umbridge continued, “there really is no position or job for them here. And as the _Muggle_ _Studies_ class is no longer, there is, as far as I can see, nothing to discuss. Wizards do not need to know how Muggles live, as we will simply not be dealing with them in any way.”  
  
“Quite interesting,” said Dumbledore with a small laugh and twinkle in his eye, “well, then, I’m terribly sorry, Harry, my boy. It seems like that O.W.L. test would be less one class, and all that time wasted too...”  
  
He raised his finger up to forestall anything Umbridge was about to say, “There is one more thing I wish to discuss, and then, I believe, I’ll take my leave.”  
  
Umbridge pursed her lips, looking quite put out for a moment. It was obvious she wanted the man gone so she could talk to Harry alone, and interrogate him, for Merlin only knew how long, in order to uncover the existence of the Defense Association.  
  
“Very well, but please, do get on with it. I’m afraid we really don’t have all day,” said Umbridge, with a gesture urging him to hurry up.  
  
“Yes, thank you,” said Dumbledore, “are you familiar with the _Salient Causality_?”  
  
“Pardon?”  
  
“I thought not,” the man went on almost immediately, “it was written by a Half-Blood such as yourself...”  
  
When the headmaster had said that, he’d looked downwards in thought, and missed the murderous look on Umbridge’s face, but Harry didn’t, and he sincerely prayed that Dumbledore hadn’t chosen this moment to completely lose his marbles.  
  
“...a very fine wizard of astounding quality, and I do so look forward to seeing his children when they can attend the school. Well, he wrote a most telling subject, about the diversion of attention, or the complete focus of it, upon something else of note.”  
  
When he finished, the man steepled his fingers together and looked expectantly at the woman, who was rather confused, “Ah-hem-hem...” she said, clearing her throat, and glanced at the man. She finally leaned on the table, and smiled politely, “...I’m sorry, Headmaster, but just what are you trying to say here?”  
  
“What indeed,” said Dumbledore, his teeth flashing in a grin. “Well, Dolores, I’m quite simply saying, that while you’ve managed to divert my attention away from the ministry for quite some time, and from dealing with a truly important subject with Cornelius-”  
  
“ _Minister_ Fudge,” snapped Umbridge impatiently.  
  
“...yes, well, concerning the return of one Vold-”  
  
“Professor Dumbledore, You-Know-Who is much more appropriate.”  
  
Dumbledore chuckled, “Do forgive me, Dolores, an old man often forgets how many people who don’t even believe _Voldemort_ is alive once again, can still fear a moniker applied by the man himself.”  
  
When the headmaster had pushed his sentence and the name through, Umbridge actually jumped in her seat, which was an unsightly movement that Harry hoped to forget quickly.  
  
“In any case, I believe the time has come for me to...how do we say...stop playing games?” His tone changed towards the end, as did his expression, which suddenly looked deadly serious, and the twinkle in his eyes looked more like a gleam with intent.  
  
Even Umbridge swallowed hard before she regained some composure, “That sounded like a threat against the Minister, Albus. I do hope you are very careful with what you say in front of me next.” warned the woman.  
  
Dumbledore smiled amicably at her, and said, “Did you perhaps read that article in the Quibbler by Xenophilius Lovegood? The one where he suggested Cornelius Fudge had an army of heliopaths at his beck and call?”  
  
He leaned forward and held his index finger pointed up, “Dear Xenophilius was right about the heliopaths, but completely wrong about the one _who had_ said army.”  
  
“Oh?” said Umbridge, who looked flabbergasted and more than a little exasperated, but at the same time curious.  
  
“Yes. You see, it is I who commands the army.”  
  
“So...!” Umbridge shot to her feet and leaned her palms heavily against her desk, “...you admit to training the students of Hogwarts to help you overthrow the Ministry of Magic!”  
  
“Goodness,” said Dumbledore, “whatever gave you _that_ idea? I think I was rather clear when I said I had an army of heliopaths, who, if you recall, look nothing like wizards or witches. How did you come to that conclusion?”  
  
“I’ve had quite enough of this, Albus. It’s become quite clear to me that your old age is catching up to you, and you’re no longer fit to run this school. Whether you believe in these delusions, or if this is just another one of your clever ploys, I will not be fooled, and the Minister will not take kindly to your thinly veiled threats.”  
  
She began to sort her desk, then looked at Harry, “I will have to reschedule our meeting, Mr. Potter, but make no mistake, when I return, we _will_ have our discussion, and Dumbledore will not be here to protect you again. Excuse me, please, I must see the Minister and the Board of Governors.”  
  
She shooed the two out of her office and closed the door firmly in their faces.  
  
“Hmm, I think that went rather well, wouldn’t you say, Harry?” asked Dumbledore with an amused look.  
  
Harry grimaced and looked over at the headmaster, “Sir...what was all that about?”  
  
“I thought it was rather obvious that I was saving the school and yourself, my dear boy,” said Dumbledore as he slowly steered Harry and himself away from Umbridge’s office.  
  
“But at what cost?” was the mumbled retort from the young wizard.  
  
Dumbledore chuckled, “Not to worry, Harry, unlike the people of Hamelin, I will make sure I pay the piper before he chooses drastic measures.”  
  
He finished that with a wink and Harry had to wonder at the man’s choice of analogy. The Pied Piper had made a deal to rid the town of Hamelin of the rat infestation for a thousand gold coins. After he’d performed the deed and freed the town, the mayor reneged on the deal, and paid him a paltry fifty coins. The piper’s vengeance was a painful one for the entire town...so what deal had Dumbledore struck, and with whom, was the question.  
  
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna and Katie were standing near the entrance to the Great Hall, and looked nearly ready to charge the stairway, possibly right into Umbridge’s office.  
  
“Good morning, young people,” greeted Dumbledore cheerfully, “Miss Lovegood, is that pudding you’re holding there?”  
  
The small blonde-haired girl glanced down at the spoon in her hand with a scoop of pudding, and seemingly looked surprised. Then again, that was her default expression.  
  
“Excellent,” Dumbledore smacked his lips, “I think I’ll avail myself of some of that too. Good day, Harry.”  
  
With that, the venerable wizard made his way to his place at the headmaster’s table.  
  
Harry’s friends surrounded him in an instant, with Hermione opening up first, “Harry, are you okay? What happened?”  
  
“Dumbledore happened…” answered Harry in bemusement, “...I get the feeling this is going to bite us in the arse in some way.”  
  
“How so?” asked Ron.  
  
“Well...in not so many words, the headmaster seems to be implying he made a deal of some sort...with someone.”  
  
“Do you think it was with heliopaths?” asked Luna, and Harry just stared at her. What were the odds that of all her bizarre animals, she’d choose the very one that Dumbledore mentioned? Furthermore, if crumple-horned snorkacks existed, and even hamgons...what were the odds that some of Luna’s other weird creatures might exist too?  
  
“Maybe?” said Harry, “I honestly can’t say for sure...”  
  
Katie and Neville arched an eyebrow at that. The Quidditch Chaser sighed, then said, “You’re okay, Harry? Professor Dumbledore was with you the whole time?”  
  
“Yeah, yeah he was.”  
  
“Okay,” she gave a small smile, and turned to head back into the Great Hall, and Harry noticed for the first time that she had had her wand drawn. They all did. “I kept your plate of food under a warming charm, and out of Ron’s reach.”  
  
“Hey!” protested Ron.  
  
“You’re saying you wouldn’t have touched it without a shield charm around it, Ron?” needled Harry, grinning at his best friend.  
  
The redhead ran a hand through his hair, “You know I can’t let a nice hot meal go to waste, mate.”  
  
“Of course.”  
  
As they all headed back to the Great Hall, Luna hung back and tugged at Harry’s sleeve when he was near enough, “Meet me outside after breakfast?” she asked hopefully, a strange expression on her face.  
  
Wordlessly, Harry nodded, and she replaced the look with her usual dreamy smile.  
  
The Gryffindor table was still quite empty even as students from the other houses began to fill the hall. The party hit them hard, and McGonagall had opted to let them have their fun, since the O.W.L. tests were right around the corner, it was their last chance to blow off some steam before it was crunch time.  
  
“Luna, come and join us,” invited Hermione as the girl started straying to the Ravenclaw table, “there’s lots of space here.”  
  
Luna beamed happily at the invitation, and without hesitation, she turned to make a beeline for the table, seating herself right next to Ron, though Harry wondered if it was because she wanted to make sure her headdress, still on Ron’s head, didn’t spill dreamland animals all over the place.  
  
 _The hamgon!_  
  
Harry looked around, suddenly realizing that the hamgon on his shoulder was nowhere to be seen, when he felt something shuffle in his pocket and he glanced down. Gleaming beady black eyes stared back at him. He _really_ needed to keep better track of the animal until they could get it back to Quinn, or wherever Luna was situating them.  
  
He carefully snuck bits and pieces of his food into his robe pocket, where one very happy hamgon accepted everything that was offered to it.

~ O ~

After breakfast, Harry met up with Luna outside, after giving a promise to Hermione to join her with Ron for some last minute cramming. It was a wonder the Burrow could not hear Ron’s groaning. “Blimey, mate,” said Ron, “that girl’s gonna drive me  _ mental! _ ”   
  
Harry grinned to himself. Mental was Ron’s standard assessment of their mutual female friend. He opted to join his brothers for a little Quidditch match instead. Honing his skills as a Keeper was far more valuable than just studying endlessly. After all, an Outstanding in Charms or Transfiguration, while certainly invaluable, would not see him getting a chance to join the Chudley Cannons anytime soon.   
  
Harry found the distracted-looking Ravenclaw quite far from the castle, closer to Hagrid’s hut, clutching her headdress, which she’d snatched back from Ron (“so I can make a better one for you, Ron. One worthy of a king.”). She was looking thoughtfully at the Forbidden Forest, when she started speaking as Harry drew near.   
  
“Do you sometimes think it might be wiser to name it the Permitted Forest? Or the Forest of Frolics. Maybe people will think there’s nothing interesting there and leave it completely alone.”   
  
Harry blinked, but decided to answer the strange query, “But maybe some people will take that as an open invitation, go in, and get themselves killed.”   
  
“Yes, that  _ would _ be quite inconvenient, wouldn’t it?” asked Luna as she turned to fix Harry with a wide-eyed keen stare.   
  
Harry cleared his throat and spoke, “So...Luna, about those animals from the World of Dreams. And what Quinn said about bodily entering it...”   
  
The girl simply smiled, and took his hand, “...come with me, Harry. There’s something you need to see.”   
  
The fifteen-year old wizard sighed, wondering if he’d ever get a straight answer from the tiny blonde witch. For the time being, he decided to humour her and followed without protest. Since meeting her up close at the start of the term, Harry didn’t really know what to make of Luna Lovegood. She was certainly unique. Bizarre wasn’t wrong to apply either, given the girl’s rather...original fashion sense, or her outlook on life and the impossible.   
  
But the other reason why he almost unquestioningly trusted her was she had so far, never done anything reckless or needless. And despite her seemingly distracted and oblivious appearance, the girl had a sharp mind that could rival Hermione, much to the bushy-haired witch’s chagrin, and there was always a reason so far behind everything she’d done.   
  
Besides, she was the only other person it seemed that knew or was involved with this mysterious World of Dreams, and he needed to know more about it. He’d put up with the eccentricities if it eventually got him some answers.   
  
He realized that the girl was leading them into the Forbidden Forest. Given his past experiences venturing within these woods, he felt understandably cautious, even a little afraid, but Luna maintained their pace, and if he could guess at her expression, she probably had her usual dreamy smile on her face.   
  
They’d met Grawp not too long ago when Hagrid returned from his visit with the giants. And Grawp was supposedly a runt, but he still looked like a moving tower, and Hagrid wasn’t exactly a small fry either. And how were Half-Giants even possi-   
  
The image that invaded Harry’s mind had him very quickly cancelling the train of thought, and he focused intently on the back of Luna’s head. For some reason he had the unbidden thought that a bird’s nest wouldn’t look out of place on the girl.   
  
As if aware of his thoughts, the little blonde witch turned to look back at him and gave a room brightening smile, “We’re almost there.”   
  
“Is it safe to go this far?” asked Harry, remembering vaguely where the acromantula hive was.   
  
“Oh yes, quite,” replied Luna placidly, “there’s a few charms to let us know if we’re in danger, in various stages from ‘just so you know’ to ‘it’s now a good time to scream and panic’.”   
  
The last part was not something Harry wanted to hear, “And how does the last one work?”   
  
“A small flock of jobberknolls fly past you screaming ‘run for your lives’ hysterically.”   
  
_ Only Luna... _ _   
_ _   
_ Sounded like an impressive feat of magic, considering that jobberknolls were small magical blue birds that never made a sound until the moment before it died, when it would release a long scream, containing every sound it ever heard in its life, sung backwards.   
  
“And,” continued Luna, “if it comes to that, Rorry will help us get away quickly.”   
  
“Rorry?”   
  
Luna nodded her head eagerly and she turned to look at Harry, “It was Mr. Weasley’s enchanted flying car. I’ve persuaded him to help watch over the growing sanctuary here.”   
  
Harry was a little surprised to learn that the magical Ford Anglia was not only still around, but was seemingly sentient enough for Luna to hold a conversation with it and persuade it to be some sort of guardian to a...“Hold on, did you say a sanctuary? A sanctuary for what?”   
  
She looked thoughtfully at Harry and then lifted up her headdress, and Harry got the idea.   
  
“So, why Rorry?” he couldn’t help asking.   
  
“Why, it’s Ron’s name, and yours. Your actions with him paved the way for him to gain his own mind, I thought it suitable to name him after his ‘parents’, and he seemed to like it.   
  
Harry instantly regretted asking.   
  
“Here we are.” declared Luna, gesturing with the hand that held the headdress, since, Harry distantly realized, she hadn’t yet released her hold on him.   
  
All the young wizard saw was an almost wall-like assortment of vines, wood and leaves, but so densely bunched together, he couldn’t see if it was natural or unnatural. He was inclined to think it looked more natural. “Do we tap with our wands in a specific manner to open it?”   
  
Luna beamed proudly at him, approving of his deduction, and he couldn’t help but smile back. “Yes, watch carefully.”   
  
She let go of his hand, and took out her wand, which she kept in its usual place behind her ear, and began to tap in specific motions, just like they had to do when entering Diagon Alley from the Leaky Cauldron, only the order of tapping was different, and just this side of complicated. He silently did his best to memorize the movement by heart, suspecting he may need to know this sooner rather than later.   
  
The leaves, wood and vines soon parted, and Harry was greeted by a scene out of a fairytale.   
  
Where most of the Forbidden Forest lived up to its name, being dark, gloomy, frightening and filled with hidden dangers, as well as a constant sense of foreboding, this sanctuary, had bright sunlight filtering down from amongst the hale and hearty trees that surrounded the small valley. It reminded him a little of the dwelling he saw in the dream world.   
  
All around him were small adorable woodland animals, both Muggle and magical. There were hedgehogs and knarls (or maybe just knarls?), nifflers, snidgets, gnomes, horklumps, hyperactive squirrels, chipmunks, fairies, hamgons, and of course, crumple-horned snorkacks. There were also populations of other unidentified creatures that all looked curiously at the new arrivals, but otherwise carried on with their activities.   
  
Not too far away, Harry could make out what looked like a pair of unicorns. Flowers grew and coloured the land with rich and vibrant hues that were almost dazzling to the eyes.   
  
Tiny high-pitched giggles filled his ears as a small flock of fairies flew around the two students, and then they settled on a nearby ring of toadstool mushrooms, or were they a species of horklump that Harry had never seen before?   
  
Upon seeing a curious creature he’d never seen before, he asked, “Luna...are those…?”   
  
“...Nargles, yes, yes they are.” said Luna, smiling up at the cluster that seemed to be gathered around mistletoe, and the boy raised his eyebrows as high as they could go.   
  
Hermione’s jaw was going to crack a hole in the floor if she saw all this.   
  
“They’re easily visible to visitors of the World of Dreams, mostly.” said Luna, “others may not see them unless they have a very open mind.”   
  
“Well, that’s unfortunate,” muttered Harry, as he suddenly realized his two best friends might see nothing but an empty valley. “Is this place itself visible, and what kind of enchantments is here? This place...it’s like an impossibility.”   
  
“It’s a sanctuary,” answered Luna simply, “if it were easy to discover, it wouldn’t be very safe, would it?”   
  
That made sense, but Harry wanted some straight answers now.   
  
“Luna, please tell me, does Quinn know about this? And does he approve of it?”   
  
The blonde witch turned that surprised look on Harry, “Of course he does, I wouldn’t have been able to bring out the snorkacks and hobnoblins otherwise, or anything else.”   
  
It seemed Luna thought he should know this without having to ask.   
  
“Oh.”   
  
Catching on to the fact that Harry really needed some things spelled out for him, she went on, “These creatures used to exist here a long time ago. But dark creatures and magic began to corrupt the Forbidden Forest. It used to be called something else. The Lord of Dreams before Quinn had saved as many of the creatures as possible before they went extinct. They’ve grown and thrived in the Sanctuary, but now, there’s enough of them, that we can safely start introducing some to the living world again.”   
  
She studied Harry with an indiscernible look, “Will you help me to protect this sanctuary, Harry? Will you help bring back some light into a dark land?”   
  
The wizard looked uneasily at his friend, and now felt some sort of presence around him, and the creatures seemed to fall silent, as if waiting on his answer.   
  
“Of course I will.”   
  
There was a collective sigh of relief! Harry was certain that was not imagined. Were they  _ really _ waiting for his response? And were they actually afraid he’d say no? He looked helplessly at Luna who only gave him an enigmatic smile and hugged him without warning. After a second or two, he gently returned the hug, rubbing her back awkwardly. “Thank you, Harry. Would you like to help me release the snorkacks and hobnoblins?”   
  
“I think I prefer calling them hamgons,” said Harry, “easier.”   
  
“But Harry,” said Luna, looking alarmed, “these are hobnoblins. Hamgons are more temperamental.”

~ O ~

Harry had made his way out from the forest, casting a mild disillusionment charm and a magical notice-me-not spell to hopefully avert being spotted emerging from the woods, and hopefully, it would look more like he was coming back from a stroll near the lake.   
  
The sound of whimpering and sobbing caught his attention almost immediately, followed by taunting voices of several wizards and witches. Many of them, Harry realized with a scowl, he recognized.   
  
Ever since Draco, Crabbe and Goyle had joined the DA (albeit somewhat unwillingly), those Slytherins had concentrated their now-false ongoing enmity with each other in public, But Harry now held something of a neutral relationship with his former rival in secret, and Draco had taken to picking only on Harry, Hermione and Ron, but he’d largely left his bullying of other students to the non-members of his house.   
  
And that was how, as he topped a small mound, he found, near the shores of the Black Lake, Abner Malcolm, Robert Scully, Theodore Nott, Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode of Slytherin, accompanied by Mandy Brocklehurst, Stephen Cornfoot, and Will Hornbuckle of Ravenclaw. Most of them were in Harry’s year, but Abner and Robert were seventh years, and this whole lot were terrorizing a tiny redheaded witch who was curled up defensively on rough sandy ground, sobbing and pleading with her tormentors to stop.   
  
“Aww, look at li’l Bubble Bint,” said Pansy, her voice going cartoonishly high, “hey, can you smell your own fear?”   
  
“Use the tickling hex on her again,” said Will, “make her scream.”   
  
“N-No! P-p-please!” came the strangled cry from the floor. She was covering herself as much as she could with her arms and legs, and from what could be seen, there appeared to be something strange surrounding her nose and mouth.   
  
It looked like eight much older students were picking on a firstie, and there was nothing like the level of brutality being displayed by these students that would more easily earn Harry’s ire. Enough to make him charge in head first without a thought or plan on what he was going to do.   
  
“LEAVE HER ALONE!” cried Harry, wand in hand and aimed at the eight. He was so incensed, it didn’t even register how badly outnumbered he was.   
  
“Oh look, the cavalry has arrived, little ‘Puff!” said Abner with a sneer, “our boy  _ Potter _ here thinks he can take on the world now, does he?”   
  
Obviously the Quidditch players were still bitter at losing to Gryffindor the day before.   
  
“I know Gryffindors are brave and reckless,” observed Stephen casually, “but are you so bad at counting?”   
  
The eight now had their wands trained on Harry, and it was finally beginning to dawn on him how poorly this was going to play out for himself and the very student he was trying to save. His best hope now was that the redhead would take the opportunity of the bullies being distracted and make a run for it, but she peeked out from under her hands to look at Harry, a brilliant blue eye, the wizard noted.   
  
Instead of running, the tiny witch nervously grasped her wand, which lay nearby, and made a swishing motion, muttered something, and then aimed at Abner’s feet. The Seventh year student went down face first in the sand, and Robert followed him quickly, crying out in alarm. The distraction made all the students look down in shock, and Harry capitalized.   
  
“ _ Stupefy! Stupefy! Expelliarmus! Petrificus Totalus! Stupefy! Expelliarmus! _ ” he shouted out as he ran to his right, not giving the recovering wizards and witches a chance to cast at a still target. He continued to cast until he had disarmed and incapacitated all eight in one form or another.   
  
The little redhead slowly sat up, looking dazed, shocked and alarmed at what she had done. Harry collected all the wands and put them in his robe pocket, before checking on the girl.   
  
As he knelt down, she flinched and shied away. “Hey, hey it’s all right. I’m not going to hurt you.”   
  
She looked at him for a moment, pulling back strands of bright red hair that covered her face. She had large, brilliant blue eyes, freckles, a small and sharp nose, and pouty lips. Despite the similarities, and the hair, Harry wasn’t sure this girl was related to the Weasleys, but it wouldn’t be a stretch if she was. He could also see she was a Hufflepuff, and the strange thing around her nose and mouth looked like a modified Bubblehead charm, much like the one used by Fleur Delacour in the second task of the Triwizard Tournament.   
  
“Th-thank you...sir...” said the girl, who still looked nervous and shaken. She also seemed to be having difficulty breathing, and she spoke haltingly, as if trying to breathe between every word.   
  
“Uh...just call me Harry...what’s your name?”   
  
She turned to look down at the prone forms of Abner and Robert, then back at Harry, “Em...Emily...King...th-they call me...B-Bubble...Bint.”   
  
She pointed at the charm covering part of her face as if it wasn’t obvious enough how she earned that rude nickname.   
  
“Hi Emily, you’ll pardon me if I prefer to call you that. Can I ask you something?”   
  
“Y-yes? Mmm...I m-mean...s-s-sure...”   
  
The girl looked nervous, but she seemed to know what was going to be asked.   
  
“Why do you have the bubblehead charm on?”   
  
“D-dark wizard...cu-curse.” was the simple reply. “Meant to kill...crushed lungs, in-instead...”   
  
Harry’s face darkened again, and Emily looked down. “Th-they’ll come for me ag-again...th-they’ll be angry.”   
  
She seemed somewhat bitter about the fact. It probably dawned on her that the Seventh Years would realize she had helped Harry by summoning their shoes and making them trip. It was a simple trick, and an effective one. But Harry also knew that the Summoning spell was not taught to First Years. He had a feeling the girl was very, very small, but older than she looked.   
  
“No, they won’t,” promised Harry as he stood up and held a hand out to the girl, who gingerly reached out after a moment’s hesitation, and was hauled to her feet, “we’re making sure they never hurt you or anyone else ever again.”   
  
“...wh-what do you m-m-mean?” asked Emily, her eyes widening at the implication.   
  
Harry grinned, “We’re going to see the headmaster, along with the heads of all four houses. We’ll leave this lot here to enjoy some sun for a while. In the meantime, do you know what a pensieve is?”

~ O ~

The thunderous expression on Snape’s face was possibly something Harry was going to treasure for a long time to come. As one or more students from each house was involved on one side or the other of this altercation, all four heads of houses and the headmaster were involved. Pomona Sprout was suitably outraged, Minerva was proud of her lion, Flitwick was upset and very, very disappointed, and Snape...well, the man looked like he was being force-fed skele-grow.   
  
He almost talked in the same halting, stuttering manner of Emily as he ground out point deductions, detentions or suspensions as necessary, based on the testimonies of Emily and Harry. Along with the supplied witness memories of both of them.   
  
Dumbledore’s eyes were not twinkling in the least when the revived students were led in by prefects at wand point. Harry also discovered that the same hamgon that had been hiding in his pocket, was not only still there, but it had done a number on the wands of the students, as he had placed them all in the same pocket with the winged rodent.   
  
“I cannot even begin to describe how greatly disappointed we all are with your behaviour.” the ancient wizard said, “Hogwarts has always been a place where young wizards and witches can study in safety and security, guided and nurtured by some of the most brilliant minds in England.”   
  
He turned to the oldest Slytherins, “Mr. Malcolm, Mr. Scully, in you two especially, I find this behaviour most unacceptable. Where are the tenets and ideals of Slytherin that you supposedly possess? How does picking on, tormenting, and possibly endangering the life of a student with a visible magical curse-injury in any way, edifying? Please, enlighten me.”   
  
For their part, Abner and Robert looked suitably chastised and foolish. They looked like they wanted to stare daggers at Harry for ruining their day, but with the five adults giving  _ them _ the death glares, they were cowed.   
  
“Well?” prodded Dumbledore, “You were quite brave and bold to take on young Miss King, you were willing to increase the peril to her life by using a tickling hex on someone who has respiratory conditions, which is  _ quite visible _ , I might add. Please, explain to us what logic led you to your course of action, and justify yourselves.”   
  
Pansy took the bait, “It was just harmless fun! It’s not the way you’re making it out to be!”   
  
Harry was quite glad to not be on the receiving end, when Dumbledore, ahead of Sprout, McGonagall or Flitwick, very strongly expressed their thoughts on Pansy’s idea of harmless fun.   
  
Most of them were placed on immediate suspension, with accompanying letters sent to their respective families, explaining what they had done, and an invitation towards the end of summer to review whether or not they would be allowed to continue their studies in Hogwarts, but for Abner and Robert, it was more a question of whether they’d be going to Azkaban or not, much to their alarm.   
  
Emily’s condition, as Harry learnt, was quite serious. She had received a glancing curse meant to constrict the lungs painfully, but allowing the victim to draw in small amounts of air, whilst experiencing the constriction grow each day, until they could not draw in enough air, and die. It was an excruciating death. Her family had been attacked by dark wizards, and while they mostly escaped unharmed, Emily had not been so lucky, and barely evaded the full strength of the curse.   
  
As it was, breathing was painful and difficult for her. She required a powerful and modified bubblehead charm to help her get enough air into her body. The result was her stunted growth and development, causing her to look half her actual age, and she could never raise her voice or perform any physically strenuous activity. She also had an aversion for sunlight, which was another nail in the proverbial coffin of her eight bullies, as they had dragged her out into the daylight, upon discovering her fear and allergy to it.   
  
So, upon discovering the spells used on her, the case was classified as attempted murder. Even the mild mannered Pomona Sprout was not against the idea of recommending an Azkaban sentence for all the eight perpetrators.   
  
After the kerfuffle, an even more upset Emily was taken by Sprout to visit Pomfrey. The Herbology professor thanked Harry on their way out, for saving the girl’s life, as it was now addressed. McGonagall then said that she would be going with Snape and Flitwick to explain to each of the houses to explain what had happened, and how things were going to be. For years, bullying had been allowed, tolerated, and to a shocking extent, even encouraged, by the lack of response by the professors, and how many victims were owed an apology on their part.   
  
It had taken the near-death of a student to shake them out of their stupor, and now even Snape had to lead the charge on this, and put an end to the matter, or consider retirement. A suggestion implied by Dumbledore, much to the greasy haired bat’s shock.   
  
“Harry, my boy,” said Dumbledore as the young wizard stood near the entrance to the Great Hall, considering all that just happened, “That’s quite the bit of excitement, we’ve had, and it’s still early in the morning.”   
  
The twinkle in his eyes were back, but somewhat subdued, “What either of us would give for a quiet day, wouldn’t you say?”   
  
Harry smiled at the grandfatherly man, “Quite, sir. Will she be okay? Emily, I mean.”   
  
“Young Miss King was very fortunate that you happened on her plight as you did,” said Dumbledore, “a moment later, and we might have been having a vastly different conversation with those eight.”   
  
He turned to look fully at Harry, who did the same, “Harry, I do believe that we have many things to apologize for with you, Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley, and quite likely, many other students here. We have been remiss in a lot of our duties here at Hogwarts. This institution, as I had said just now, is supposed to be a place of safety, learning and development into productive members of our waning society.”   
  
Harry watched open-mouthed as the venerable headmaster seemed to age before his eyes, “I’m saddened that it took something this drastic to wake us up to the festering rot I have allowed to grow under my watch. You can be most assured, that from this day forward, we will be vigilant, and stern, on the treatment of students by their peers. It cannot undo what has already been done, but it can prevent, or disabuse the belief that such behaviour will go unpunished.”   
  
He placed a hand on Harry’s shoulder, “You are to be commended, Harry. You represent the very best of Gryffindor, and as a Triwizard Champion, that should come as no surprise. Be proud, my boy, and know, that I most certainly am.”   
  
Harry smiled and blushed a little at the praise from the headmaster, then said, “I’m just glad it didn’t go pear-shaped. I kind of rushed in without a plan, and I was facing eight people, two of them older than me.”   
  
Dumbledore chuckled, “I suppose we should all be glad then, that it played out as it did. Nonetheless, excellent job. Now please, do go enjoy your day, and hopefully, avoid any further excitement?”   
  
He gave the young wizard a look of mirth and amusement, but Harry shared the sentiment wholeheartedly, “If you know a spell that can ensure that, I’d use it...all the time.”

~ O ~

While the heads of houses, Dumbledore, and the eight students who were going to be suspended and possibly sentenced briefly to Azkaban were first going to the Slytherin dorms, Harry made his way to the Quidditch Pitch, where it seemed that the Weasleys had managed to gather enough lions and badgers for an impromptu full-fledged match.  
  
As it was Fred, George, Alicia and Angelina’s final year, the senior Gryffindors felt fired up to enjoy one last game, but pressure-free, and all in good fun. Ginny was out playing as Seeker in Harry’s stead since they couldn’t find him to invite for the game, and a nervous Neville was playing as the third Chaser, to the cheers of his friends and even the gathered Hufflepuffs. Lee Jordan was standing in place of Madam Hooch as referee rather than an announcer.  
  
The benches had scatterings of students from all houses except Slytherin, since Snape had issued a call for the entire house to gather in the dorms. The raven-haired wizard saw Katie sitting at the benches nearest to the pitch, alone, and looking morose.  
  
Drawn by her, he made his way to the bench and sat down almost right next to her.  
  
It took a while, but the girl finally noticed him, and she almost jumped. Her behaviour reminded him briefly of Emily, who had similarly flinched as if expecting an attack despite the fact he had come to the rescue. It seemed an instinctual behaviour.  
  
“Harry,” said Katie, “what are you...I mean, why aren’t you playing?”  
  
Harry studied the team for a moment, listening to the laughter, shouts and whoops from the teams, and the small audience cheering on either team. It was calming, and relaxing. Flying was certainly an appealing idea to him right then, after the morning he’d had. But then that just made him think of the girl next to him, “I could ask you the same thing.” was his return.  
  
Katie sighed, and looked down, “Too tired,” she said lamely, “I’m not feeling up to it.”  
  
“You still want to quit the team?”  
  
She looked at him, then quietly nodded.  
  
“Please don’t.”  
  
She looked up again, now pinning him with a stare, “Why? Why shouldn’t I? It’s not like I enjoy the game anymore.”  
  
She held up a trembling right hand. “See that? Doesn’t exactly make for an ideal Chaser if I can barely hold on to the quaffle.”  
  
Harry pursed his lips, and inched a little closer, so he could speak without being overheard, not that there were a lot of students near this particular spot that Katie had chosen.  
  
“Can it be overcome?” he asked.  
  
Katie blinked, and didn’t look like she was going to answer, so, calling on some Gryffindor reckless courage, he reached out, held her trembling hand, and lifted it up, “Katie, can this be overcome? Can you make it stop?”  
  
“I...I...” the girl blinked, looking at Harry’s hand, still holding hers, “...I...think so?”  
  
“No, don’t think. Just do.” he didn’t know where this stern demeanour was coming from, “This isn’t your defining quality. It was a curse put on you, and we’re going to find out who did this to you. In the meantime, you’re  _ stronger _ than this, do you understand? This isn’t going to be the rest of your life, and it’s not going to affect the choices you make or limit what you can do. Do you want to play Quidditch? Maybe join a professional team when you graduate?”  
  
“Yes, of course, but...”  
  
“Then promise me something, Katie,” Harry fixed his emerald green eyes on the girl, who gulped and just stared at him, “don’t decide to quit the team yet. Try and use the summer to make yourself better. You only just got back from St. Mungo’s, and the curse took a toll on you for six months, don’t make any decisions until you’ve gotten some professional input on how thorough this thing is. Can you do that? Not for me, not for the team...but for yourself.”  
  
Only when Harry noticed Katie staring at his hand still holding onto hers did he have the forethought to blush and let go. Luna seemed to be the only girl who could hold his hand and they didn’t feel awkward or embarrassed. Katie held her hand with her other, and after a long silence, and Harry began to think he ought to leave, she finally looked at him and gave a weak smile.   
  
“Okay, Harry. I promise.”  
  


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**Additional A/N:** _ T hanks to Nauze & Brutus for Beta reading this for me!   
  
Also, shout out to Salient Causality (who I totally, shamelessly, name-dropped in this chapter). Check out his super-awesome fic in progress,  **Harry Potter and the International Triwizard Tournament** , where he explores magic in a mind-blowing, in-depth way that can be very satisfying. Highly recommended for a nice long read per chapter.   
  
Thanks in advance for your reviews, favourites and follows, I certainly hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. I pray you and your family and friends stay safe, well and blessed in these trying times. See you next chapter! _


	4. Chapter 3: Dreams of Finals & Disasters

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**Author’s Jib-Jab:** Trying to keep each chapter to 10,000 words, so I ended up having to split the chapter in two. Do please read and review. I appreciate seeing what you take away from this attempt at a fic. A lot of twisting of canon events here from OotP.   
  
**Suspiciously Superfluous Disclaimer:** **  
**Let me just say that all the characters, the world, J.K. Rowling, various publishers, Warner Bros™, they belong to me. All copyright infringements are most certainly intended, and a lot of money is being made. This is why I write stories about that which I own, in FanFiction and other online media.

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**Chapter 3: Dreams of Finals & Disasters**

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"Harry!" cried Ginny from above. She zipped down with her broom, moving like a manic red missile straight for the Boy-Who-Was-About-To-Have-A-Heart-Attack and Shrieking Katie, stopping hard just a foot away from them. "Would you care to take over?"

She looked ready to jump off the broom and hand it to him. The other Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs were calling out, encouraging him. Casting a glance at an even paler looking Katie, Harry shook his head, to the resounding sound of dismay from the other players and spectators. "Thanks, Gin," said Harry, "but it'll take a lot of time to get in gear and play, and you're in the game already. Next round, maybe."

Ginny shrugged and grinned at them. "Sorry 'bout the scare, Katie. Right then, back to the chase!"

She flipped herself upside down and shot back up into the sky. Catching Harry's eye, Ron tossed him a casual salute and a look of mock dismay that Harry wasn't playing. Contrary to general belief, Harry didn't eat, breathe and live only for Quidditch. He turned to look at the blonde girl next to him, "You going to be alright?" he asked, worried, at how pale Katie now looked.

"I'll live...I think," replied Katie. "I'm not against radical flight, mind...but that girl...that is not flying."

"What do you call it, then?" Harry was curious.

Katie observed Ginny doing a loop around Neville and grinning, then she answered with, "Madness."

"I think you just described the primary strategy of all Seekers and Gryffindor's main choice of style," remarked Harry dryly.

The short blonde gave a small laugh, "I suppose I did."

They quietly watched the game continue. Harry observed that the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors alike were encouraging Neville in the spirit of camaraderie. Admittedly, his participation in the DA had already boosted a great deal of his confidence, but in terms of social interaction, he still had some ways to go. Playing Chaser for the Quidditch team was certainly doing wonders, especially with both houses cheering him on.

It was one of the reasons why Harry didn't want to play in this impromptu match. He had his glory the day before. Time to let others shine, or find the talent within themselves. Plus he felt quite comfortable where he was right then, and as they observed Ginny pulling off certain Harry Potter stunts, the boy thought maybe having her as a reserve Seeker was better than reserve Chaser.

"It looks like Gryffindor already has a new Chaser in the making," said Katie thoughtfully, as she followed Neville's movements, "That's something."

Harry turned to look at Katie but the girl seemed to anticipate what he was going to say and forestalled him. "I promised I'd think it over in the Summer. I will, Harry, no need to worry. But Angelina and Alicia will be leaving after this term, so we _will_ need new Chasers."

That was a fair point.

Neville was certainly a shoe-in for the role if he continued the way he was playing now. He made a note to ask him later. Or rather, to talk it over with Ron, and have him ask Neville. Harry had every confidence that his best friend was going to make team Captain. "Looks like Alicia and Angelina know that too," said Harry, observing his two teammates, and the joyous but also energetic flying they were doing.

Angelina had been quite a strict Captain, but she was fair, and also knew how to balance practice with fun. Now, though, she was just Angelina Johnson, Chaser extraordinaire, and she was having the time of her life. Harry felt happy for his older friends, and he watched the wild flirting going on between her, Alicia and the twins amid the game.

"Question," Harry said to Katie without taking his eyes off his friends, "how do Alicia and Angelina tell the twins apart?"

"..." Katie pursed her lips and grimaced, seemingly struggling to find a suitable answer.

"Katie?"

"Uhm...do you really want to know the answer to that?" Katie looked at him wonderingly.

"I wouldn't be asking if I didn't."

The girl sighed. "I don't think they can...or bother trying."

"..." now it was Harry's turn to grimace, and Katie frowned.

"I asked if you wanted to know the answer. If you can't handle it..."

"Yes, but isn't that..." Harry was at a loss for words.

"There are things best left unknown or unexplored in this world." replied Katie sagely.

"Good point." He let the matter drop, and raised his free hand to cheer for Ginny as she caught the snitch and she shook the ball around in her victory lap.

"Well, that was quite the casual match," said Katie with a yawn, "I'm going to take a nap. See you later, Harry."

She finally let go of his hand to get up and leave. She still needed more sleep and rest despite the lengthy recovery she'd already had, and if the bags under her eyes were anything to go by, it looked like she didn't get enough.

The teams were slowly descending, still chattering amongst each other, when a voice spoke up from behind Harry, "Textbook execution of moves by everyone today."

"MOTHER OF PEARL!" Harry nearly went arse-over-teakettle at the sound of Hermione's voice speaking abruptly.

The bushy-haired witch snickered unapologetically at Harry's reaction and piped up. "So focused on holding hands with Katie this whole time, Harry?"

"What?" Harry looked dumbly at the hand that was still warm from clasping with another for some considerable time. He really hadn't noticed. Why hadn't he?

Whenever Luna took his hand, he was keenly aware of it. But when he held Katie's...it felt oddly natural, and more...it just occurred to him that _Katie_ didn't remove her hand from _his_ that whole time. It was…

"Hullo, Harry," said Hermione casually, "did you forget about me? Rude!"

Harry coughed, "Sorry, Hermione, I was..."

"...just thinking about holding hands with Katie, I know," she grinned impishly, seemingly knowing something he didn't, and feeling mighty smug about it. But that was Hermione's standard mode, as she usually knew more than anyone.

"It wasn't anything, okay?" Harry was feeling his cheeks heating up.

"Your face says otherwise," Hermione persisted.

"Wh-what are you doing here, anyway?" Harry changed the subject. "I thought you were studying."

"I was. But you two were nowhere to be found, and I thought, you know what? Let's go watch the impromptu match instead."

"Really?" asked Harry, looking amazed. Then something clicked in his mind and he shook his head and stared incredulously at his other best friend. "Hold on now, who are you and what have you done with Hermione?!"

The bushy-haired girl threw her head back and laughed. "Oh Harry, if you could only see your face right now...Oh, don't be so surprised! I _can_ relax and take some time off from studying too, you know."

"Could have fooled me," retorted Harry.

Hermione fixed him with a mock glare but broke into a smile after a moment. "I'm learning...or trying to learn to relax a bit more, all right? I know I can be a bit...enthusiastic about learning."

Ron coughed loudly as he joined his two friends at the benches. "Understatement! 'Lo, Harry, Hermione."

Hermione took a cautious sniff, then frowned at Ron. "What are you using?"

"Pardon?" Ron looked confused.

"Well, you've been playing this whole time. You should be stinking to high heavens by now," the girl shrugged as she spoke matter-of-factly.

Ron looked at her for a moment, then a smug smile appeared on his lips as he took out his wand. He moved it in a circular motion, then jabbed it in the centre, aiming at Harry, he said, " _Patet Odorus!_ "

Harry felt a soft breeze blow over him, and then smelt...nothing, really. "Brilliant stuff, Ron!"

Hermione looked like someone opened a treasure chest and told her it was hers to take. She bounced in her seat and latched onto Ron's arm, yelling, "TEACH ME!"

The boys both looked wildly amused at the manic glint in Hermione's eyes as she shook Ron back and forth.

"Easy now, Her-mio-ne!" laughed Ron, "I'll show you, I'll show you! It's simple. A family spell. Mum uses it a lot. I mean, she lives in a household with seven blokes, you know."

"I've never seen any of you ever using it before," said Hermione. "How am I learning about this only now?"

Ron shot Harry a look, a grin slowly forming, and Harry matched that grin. "It's not in books."

Hermione planted her fists on her hips so hard, they could hear it. "I _get it_ , okay? Not everything is in books."

The boys looked triumphant and exchanged a high-five, when Hermione added, "But there's plenty in them that you don't know anything about."

"I'll give you that," conceded Harry. "Well, best to show her the spell, Ron."

"I sorta did, already, didn't I? Okay okay! I'll show you again. You wave your arm like this..."

Hermione had bared her teeth and looked ready to bite Ron when he began to show her the motions and the incantation.

"It clears away any scent around yourself, so for a while, you'll have this weird experience of not smelling anything. That goes away fast enough though. And if you didn't use or know any cleaning charms, you'd still look a sight. And it doesn't beat a good and proper shower, but great if you don't have time."

"Thank you, Ron!" Hermione withdrew her wand and immediately cast it, successfully, at Harry.

"Oy, I think I'm fresh enough already!" complained Harry with a laugh.

"He's right, you know," said Ron, bumping shoulders with Hermione. "Any fresher, and he'd be downright insulting."

"I'll show you insulting!" Harry charged at Ron, but the lanky redhead was quick on his feet and running back to the school, with Harry in pursuit, and Hermione following them at a more sedate pace, laughing.

**~ O ~**

As far as days went, it had been fairly eventful for Harry. And he was positively knackered. He was making his way back to the Gryffindor tower when he noticed Luna standing near the portrait of the Fat Lady. Maybe she was looking for Ron, but she would have easily spotted him in the Great Hall, where he was acting like he hadn't eaten in a week. No, she was here for someone else.

When her eyes landed on him, she beamed, "Hello Harry, I was waiting for you."

Well, that confirmed it. Giving her a weary smile, he took the last few steps up the stairs and stood before. "Here I am."

"Yes, indeed," replied Luna, she enlarged something in her hands, and it looked like an even more elaborate lion headdress. Or at least, something more...masculine? There was a gold crown on top of its head. Harry smiled. He had a feeling he knew who it was for. He was going to tease Ron mercilessly about it. "Would you give this to Ron Weasley for me, please?"

"You know, you could have passed it to him in the hall. He's still there," said Harry.

Luna flushed all of a sudden, then shook her head, "It's better like this. He may not like it," was her placid reply, but Harry thought he heard an undertone of worry in her voice. Maybe she was afraid of a rejection from Ron. But, if Harry knew Ron, which he _did_ , that fear was unfounded.

"Trust me, Luna. Just wear orange more often, and have food on stand by, things you can't go wrong with when it comes to Ron," he patted her on the shoulder.

She smiled happily at him. "Thank you, Harry. You're very kind."

Her eyes suddenly shot down towards a pocket on his robes. "What's in there?"

Harry didn't need to answer, as a moment later, a hamgon's head poked out to sniff around.

"Oh, I was wondering where you went," said Luna distractedly, "I thought you were hiding in my room."

The hamgon made a soft, sudden squeak, and then slipped back into Harry's pocket.

"I can't seem to get it to leave," said Harry, "when we were at the enclosure, I tried turning the pocket inside out, but it just perched on my shoulder instead."

The animal seemed to have taken Harry to be its home now. After he'd left the enclosure with Luna, met Emily, then watched the impromptu quidditch match, he'd gone back to the enclosure after lunch to try once again to get the blessed magical dream animal to join with its kin, using his invisibility cloak to sneak out undetected. It was a complete bust. If anything, the hamgon seemed dismissive of all the other animals.

"C'mon, Hammy," chided Harry at the time, "don't you want to join the snorkacks and other hamgons? Look, they're calling to you."

Some of the frolicking animals had indeed paused in their play to rear up on hind legs to observe Harry and the lone hamgon that was perching on his shoulder. It made a sniffing sound and sneezed a small gout of flame into the air before scampering down into his robe pockets.

"Why would he want to leave you?" asked Luna, "He's your second familiar."

"...what?"

"Or he just likes you a lot. I can never quite tell with bat-winged hobnoblins," said Luna, almost to herself, "but either way, it's best for you to understand and accept that they have a mind of their own, just like every living being."

"Don't suppose you know if he has a name?" asked Harry dryly, thinking Hammy wasn't the most creative name he could come up with, and he would rather call it by a name that wasn't starting with an 'H'. Hedwig might not appreciate it, was his odd concern.

Luna looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully, before she finally said, "Ambrosinus."

At that, the hamgon poked its head back out, sneezed a burst of flame, and then disappeared once more.

"Good enough for me," said Harry, then he looked thoughtful, "what's the meaning behind that name?"

Luna gave him an enigmatic smile, "Merlin. All the best in your exams. You might be very busy from now on. Wish Ron and Hermione for me, as well, will you? Good night, Harry."

Before he could ask her anything else, she'd turned and started skipping away, humming a sweet tune to herself.

Ambrosinus climbed out of the pocket to perch on his shoulder, and Harry asked the hamgon as much as he asked himself, "There ever going to be a time that girl doesn't leave me speechless?"

The hamgon abruptly snapped the wing closest to Harry's head and cuffed him lightly. Harry got the impression that was the hamgon's way of saying "No".

"I thought so too."

He spoke the password and entered the portrait.

While he waited for Ron to return, the little creature glided over to land on his pillow and curled up on top of it. They were going to have problems if the hamster dragon thought he could stay there all night.

Ron returned soon enough. "Hey, mate," said Ron with a casual grin. "What's that?"

"Ambrosinus, the hamgon you saw this morning," replied Harry without thinking.

"Well, we'll get back to that in a moment," said Ron, then pointed at the crowned lion headdress in Harry's hands. "I meant what's _that_?"

It occurred to Harry that Ron bloody well knew what it was and from whom it had to have come from. So why would he even bother ask-

 _Is Ron jealous?!_ The thought struck Harry out of the blue. Yes, there was definitely a possessive glint in his eyes. Most would have missed it and just thought it was intense curiosity.

Well, Luna certainly had nothing to worry about, and this made Harry smile inwardly a little. Ron surely had feelings for the little oddball Ravenclaw. This also meant Hermione owed Harry ten galleons. She was so confident it was Padma. Right house, wrong girl.

"A little gift from Luna...to you," said Harry as he handed it to his friend, "after all, you're a king, and you deserve a crown."

"Yeah?" the eagerness in Ron's voice was unmistakable. If Harry didn't know for sure before, he knew now.

These two had it _bad_.

"The one she uses is a little too small. You seemed to enjoy wearing it. So she made one that's a bit more manly and suitable for you. And you can carry it with you all the time."

He showed Ron how to use his magic to shrink it or grow it at will. "Wicked," declared Ron with a grin. "Thanks."

He sat down at the edge of his bed and held the headdress between both hands. "Mate..."

Ron seemed to have something on his mind, but was being dodgy, "Out with it, Ron."

"You think Luna and I...?"

_Yup. Bad._

"I think..." started Harry with a smirk, "...this is something you should be asking Luna."

Ron blushed at that and had a goofy grin on his face as he considered it.

"But in all seriousness," Harry turned so he was facing Ron fully, "are you prepared for what comes with going out with someone like Luna?"

He'd really only started getting to know the girl this last year, but he already felt a strong sibling bond with her, and with it came a protective streak for her, even though it's Ron.

 _So this was what it felt like to feel protective over a little sister_ , Harry realized, and he felt a little more understanding towards the Weasley boys in regards to Ginny.

"What do you mean?" asked Ron.

"You _know_ what I mean, mate," answered Harry, "she's _Luna Lovegood_ . Daughter of the editor of the Quibbler. _Loony_ . Not quite right in the head? What would people think of you, your family, for associating _that_ closely with someone like her? You prepared for the whispering and criticism?"

"She's _mental_ ," announced Ron, but before Harry could say anything, or respond, he noticed the faraway look in his friend's eyes, "and I wouldn't have it any other way."

Then he looked downright serious, "Anyone have a problem with that, they can bloody well shove it."

Harry grinned, "Guess you'll just have to talk to her then."

Ron returned the grin, then slipped the headdress on, proud to be wearing it. "I wonder if..."

His eyes rolled up as he concentrated on something and suddenly both boys were rolling away from one another as the headdress let out a deafening animalistic roar. Ambrosinus squeaked in fright, blasting a large gout of flame in alarm and then glared at Ron. He and Harry caught each other's gaze and then fell laughing.

"Bloody hell," said Ron, "can you imagine setting this as an alarm in the morning?"

"Ron! You'll wake the whole school!" cried Harry between hysterics.

As they recovered, Ron sat himself back on his bed, and looked at the annoyed hamgon, "Now, what's Hagrid's latest experiment doing in your bed?"

"He seems to have taken a liking to me," said Harry as the animal flapped its wings and glided over to land on his shoulder. "Guess we'll see if he's safe enough for domestication and distribution as a pet."

Ron quirked an eyebrow, "Mate, when has anything from Hagrid been safe for handling by children?"

"Well, he had us handling blast-ended skrewts at fourteen," Harry pointed out, "what's a fire-breathing winged hamster in comparison?"

Ron shrugged, "Well, better you than me, I say. At least he's not like Pig."

When the boy looked away, Harry grinned. He knew Ron cared for the tiny scops owl, despite his belligerent attitude towards the bird.

"Now come on," said Ron, yanking Harry off the bed, and forcing the hamgon to take wing, "it's too early for anyone to be sleeping yet. We're playing chess."

"Wait, no..." whined Harry, "...what's the point? I always lose!"

But he was dragged into the Common Room nonetheless.

**~ O ~**

It turned out that Harry was wrong. He actually managed to win once, this time. But only because Katie joined him, sitting on the armrest of his chair and whispering in his ear where Ron was making his next move. When it appeared that Harry and Katie combined were able to put Ron on the defensive, Alicia, Angelina, Hermione and Ginny all joined Harry, until he was completely surrounded by girls, all whispering in either ear, pointing out the weaknesses in Ron's strategy, or Harry's own.

The reason for this was because in the first round, upon winning with only four steps, Ron's headdress let out a deafening roar that floored literally the entire Common Room. _Nobody_ wanted to hear that thing go off again. So they did everything in their power to make sure Harry won. Although it also meant that Ron's strategy was so sound, it took the combined intelligence of six people to defeat him.

In the excitement of Harry _technically_ winning against Ron, Hermione grabbed the headdress off of Ron and made it roar in his face. Unfortunately, it knocked everyone else off their feet again, including Hermione herself.

"Dammit, Hermione!" cried Ginny.

Seamus sat up, looking at the headdress, and said, "That thing is a bloody weapon!"

The twins looked at each other and grinned. Harry had a feeling he'd be seeing headdresses as a novelty item in their store, which was opening soon.

He suggested to them that they ought to talk to Luna about it sometime.

After all that added excitement, Harry almost needed to be carried to his bed. He wasn't joking when he said he was exhausted, and he barely registered the queries people had about the hamgon on his shoulder. It didn't pay anyone any mind and enjoyed the gentle petting some of them gave.

As soon as his head hit the pillows, he was out, and he mostly ignored the hamgon that settled just at the top his head, one wing gently stretched over the side of his face.

And he awoke immediately, but not in his bed.

He sighed. He was back in the World of Dreams.

"Greetings, young Harry," said Quinn.

He was on the same shoreline as the first time he appeared here. The rooster on the tiny island still stood vigil on top of the large rock, just a short swim away from the beach. He turned to regard the Lord of Dreams wonderingly.

"H'lo, Quinn," returned Harry, "I've been meaning to ask, what kind of wand is that?"

Quinn looked down to the broad steel wand hooked to his belt. It had a hole in the centre on one end. "It's...a tool, you could say. One used in the act of defence, or a myriad of other purposes. Not entirely unlike your own wand."

"But there's a difference?" asked Harry.

"To an extent, I suppose there are. Ask me again another time. For now, there are things we must speak about, places to be. On your feet."

The boy rose languidly, and noticed Luna pop into view, "Hello again, Harry," she greeted dreamily.

"Luna," said Harry, "Ron loved the gift, by the way."

Luna's placid smile didn't really change, but she straightened up, and it was clear she was pleased to hear this.

"My lord," said Luna, "all goes well."

"That's excellent news, Lady of the Moon," said Quinn, smiling fondly down at her, "in time, the sanctuary can be opened properly back into the wild. Your mother would have been proud."

"Thank you, sir," Luna beamed happily. Harry took note to ask the girl more about her position in this realm. From the title Quinn gave her, not to mention the liberties she seemed to have, it felt to him like there was more to Luna than whatever he'd already learnt about her so far.

"Come along with us," invited Quinn, "we can both let young Harry know about the inherent dangers coming his way."

"Just once," muttered Harry, "I'd like something to happen because it's good news or something harmless, and not more foretellings of danger."

Quinn chuckled softly, and patted Harry on the back, "In due time."

They all lurched and the landscape moved alarmingly fast, standing atop a cliff, overlooking the Realm of Nightmares. Dark clouds loomed, and lightning flashed violently, and the sound of thunder came rumbling towards them. Harry felt a morbid urge to jump forward and examine the realm more closely, but Quinn's hand on his shoulder halted him from moving.

"Careful, Harry," said Quinn, "the shadows can be surprisingly tempting and lure you in until you are so far inside, so lost to the world, and then they will attack, when you're beyond salvation."

"Why're we so close to it, then?" asked Harry.

"We wanted you to see how quickly it's grown," said Luna and she gave him a meaningful look.

"What?"

"Do you see that outcropping over there?" Quinn pointed towards the distance.

"Yes?"

"That was where we stood yesterday, when you were first brought here," Quinn's expression turned grim.

Harry could only stare in silence. That meant the realms were in constant flux, vying for control over their own lands. "What happens if the nightmares overtake the entire realm?

"That simply will not happen," stated Quinn, and Harry believed him, "but every foothold they gain, makes my job harder."

"What can I do to help?" Harry knew that he had to do something, anything.

"Anticipate," said Quinn simply. And he took hold of Harry, with Luna taking hold of his other hand, and they reappeared within the Sanctuary, he noticed Ambrosinus the hamgon appearing and landing on Harry's shoulder.

"Voldemort, through his alliance with Kartosian, knows, or at least understands better, the bond shared between the two of you. I have been doing my best to shield you from his probing, assisted by my own nemesis, which will be why you've had relatively less pain, headaches or nightmares, in the last few months."

Harry nodded, acknowledging this, and he was quite grateful too. He hadn't had so many pain-free nights ever since Voldemort returned.

"However, the Council of Lords has called upon me, and I will be away for a time, during which you will be highly vulnerable."

He gestured towards Luna, who stepped up to stand beside Quinn. "Miss Lovegood will be assisting you as best as she can during this time. In a way, you can consider her my apprentice. Pay attention to what she says, it may well save your life."

Quinn rested a hand on his shoulder. "Harry, listen to me. When, not _if_ , you see a dream, or you're pulled into a dream, and you see things that look so real, you believe it to be a vision of real events, that is when you _must_ question it the hardest. All dreams will always have a telltale sign of something that isn't real. Look for it, and you will know it to be false."

Harry could pick up an odd noise, like a clamouring of voices and sounds, which the other two people seemed to pick up on as well, and they looked away wistfully. "Be careful, my young friend. Remember what I told you about the tests, the dreams, and the crystal. Seek the crystal. I believe that will be the answer to everything."

With that, Quinn vanished in a blink. Harry turned his head, remembering to keep track of a person's presence, and he could vaguely sense the direction Quinn had gone, but he also felt like a barrier existed between them. Wherever he'd gone, Harry couldn't follow.

"The Council think you shouldn't be allowed here," said Luna quietly, "they think you being here hastens the influence of the nightmares."

"Do I?" asked Harry.

Luna looked at him thoughtfully, stroking a crumple-horned snorkack that had hopped up to her during their conversation, "I think the nightmares will be there whether you are here or not."

Well, that seemed like a Luna Lovegood answer, if there ever was one. "So, apprentice?"

"A little excessive, I think," said Luna, "I prefer to think of myself as an honoured guest. I think I like that. People will be friendlier, at least."

Unsure of how to take that, he moved on instead, "What can I expect from good ol' Volds?"

"Did you say vole?" asked Luna with a smile, "That seems appropriate, though it might give rodents a bad name."

"I think Wormtail's already got that covered."

"True enough," Luna nodded and put the snorkack down. "I can't protect your dreams the way Quinn does, but I suppose I could build a door with a lock on it for you. Do you fancy a glass door or a Gringott's door?"

Harry didn't understand how this was supposed to work, so he asked, "Wouldn't it be better to just make a wall or a force field or something?"

"That seems a trifle dangerous, Harry," chided Luna, "what if you need to get out? Or if you need to get the dream newspaper service?"

"Well," Harry felt a little exasperated, "I'm flying blind here. Wait..."

He gently took hold of her arms and focused hard on the girl. "You're here physically aren't you?"

"..." When Luna stiffened in his hold, he knew he'd guessed correctly. And much as Hermione had done earlier that day, Harry made a request, albeit less loudly or as enthusiastically.

"Teach me how to do that, Luna."

"I...I'm-I don't think that's a good idea...the Council..." the girl seemed hesitant, and Ambrosinus circled them overhead.

"Luna, I'm going to need every advantage I can get. Am I correct in assuming that the World of Dreams directly correlates with our own?"

At her reluctant nod, Harry went on, "So that means it's possible to physically enter the World of Dreams, and travel almost instantaneously to another location?"

Another nod.

"Teach me," he repeated his request.

She studied him appraisingly, and for long enough that Harry began to think she was going to say no, but she finally started explaining, "You have to concentrate and centre your magic inwards. To do that, you have to understand how to sense magic, within yourself, and beyond."

Luna suddenly had an intense look on her face, and there was a visible glow surrounding her body like an aura of white-gold light, and her hair began to blow with an unfelt wind. Other animals in the Sanctuary halted whatever they were doing and gazed at her.

"Close your eyes and _feel_ , Harry," said Luna, her voice was still the same, dreamy and detached, but there was also a hint of steel to it. Or more appropriately, raw power.

He did as he was told, and closed his eyes, yearning to sense something. And just like that, he did. It wasn't quite as obvious as he'd thought. But it felt like a slight warmth on the outside, while there was a small chill within his body. He realized he often felt this when people cast magic, but he never really paid it any mind, often attributing it to adrenaline.

"I feel it," said Harry, "that's amazing!"

He opened his eyes, now that he knew Luna's magical signature, he could feel as she stopped concentrating on her magic and it faded away to almost nothing, but he kept note of it in the back of his mind.

"There's no one else here, or you'd be able to learn to recognize other magical signatures," she nodded at him, "but now you need to learn how to recognize your own."

"Uh...how do I do that?" He wasn't entirely sure he knew how Luna did what she just did either.

"Picture it like a light or a fire," instructed Luna, "feel it as your own magic, and then fill it. Fill it so it will grow stronger, brighter."

Once more, he closed his eyes and began to visualise. It felt odd, but he decided to have faith that Luna knew what she was talking about and fed the flame in his mind, focusing on the flame alone, a lone fire within a void.

"Draw that flame into a vision of yourself. Put it in the centre of your body."

Luna's voice sounded almost faraway, and he felt himself being moved. He ignored the sensation and just focused on imagining himself and the fire appearing in his centre. He almost lost concentration when he actually felt heat building up within him.

"Harry, that's enough!" Luna grabbed hold of him and she started.

When he opened his eyes, he wasn't in the World of Dreams any longer. They were in what appeared to be the entrance to the school. But the edges of everything in sight seemed distorted or out of place. A shadow that was in the wrong position adjacent to the torch, a statue that was halfway absorbed by the wall.

"Did I move us?" asked Harry.

"No, I did, magic doesn't work inside the Sanctuary for others, though we can sense or feel a connection to it."

He'd been about to ask how then Luna was able to manipulate magic as she did just now, but the dawning realization came upon him. Quinn called her his apprentice, and he applied the title of Lady of the Moon. There was far more to Luna than even she was willing to admit. Maybe she was to become a Guardian like Quinn.

Lady of Dreams. That seemed like a brilliant title.

"So am I physically in now?"

"Well, if Ron were to wake up now, he would be quite concerned to note you're no longer in your bed," answered Luna.

Harry realized that at that moment when Luna had grabbed hold of Harry, he felt a sensation like jumping through water, only, there was no wet sensation that followed, and a simultaneous feeling of being pulled and pushed all at once.

Altogether, it wasn't the worst sensation, as far as magical transportations went. Portkeys were horrid, and floos sent him skidding on the floor without fail. He heard apparating was worse.

He also felt utterly exhausted.

"You haven't had any proper sleep yet, so you're going to feel quite burnt out," warned Luna thoughtfully, as if reading Harry's mind, "it really doesn't get easier."

"Now follow me," she guided him and seemed to become semi-transparent without actually being so, when he realized she must have stepped out from the World of Dreams.

She made it look so easy, but he realized by watching her, and by keeping a lock on her magical signature, he could almost see what she had been doing.

She had been making a consistent pattern in her magic. A combination of will, desire and visualisation. The girl seemed to look at him, though he had the distinct feeling he wasn't visible. Ambrosinus flew towards Luna and he became semi-transparent too. He'd crossed over into the waking world and now circled overhead, watching both of them.

"All right, if you two can do it..." Harry repeated the process with the mental flame, and imagined an invisible barrier between the Dream World and the Waking World, and stepped through.

Luna smiled at him, "You did it."

"Who's there?" cried Filch, "Find them, Mrs Norris, find the no good rule-breakers!"

"And with that," said Luna with a hint of alarm, and she seemingly stepped back into the world of dreams, looking like she went through a door in the middle of nowhere, just as he had done. She vanished completely, the hamgon following in her wake.

Motivated by the risk of discovery by Filch, Harry recalled the process that got him physically into the World of Dreams, and barely managed it as the man and his hateful cat familiar came into view.

"Where are they, Mrs Norris?" asked Filch as he waved his lantern about, a bullwhip in his other hand, the cat seemed to be looking up at Harry, and Filch was looking around blindly where the cat was looking.

That was somewhat alarming. Did that mean animals and animagi could see him?

He wondered where Luna went and realized she'd gone back to the Sanctuary. In a blink, he was back there with her.

"Be careful of how you use this ability and remember you're not getting actual rest when you do this."

"Right," said Harry, "thanks, Luna."

The girl smiled at him, "I best be going. You should too. Remember what Quinn said about the dreams. While he is away, they'll be able to probe your mind directly. Ask them about heliopaths when they get through."

Harry blinked at her as she blinked out of sight, presumably back in bed, and he decided to do the same, when he did something different. He saw something as he was about to jump back into the physical world. It looked like an empty space between two places.

He stepped into that and found himself floating in space. He felt momentary alarm at being unable to walk anymore, but then the stars drew his attention. He wasn't in space. Somehow he suspected this was an aspect of the World of Dreams. Somewhere in it.

He decided to deal with it later when there were more experienced individuals around. For now, he needed to get back. But it now felt like he was lost. His mind couldn't seem to grasp the simple memory of his location, or rather where he wanted to be.

Now panic began to set in. He focused on getting back to Ron, Seamus, Dean and Neville. Get back to Ron. He held on to Ron's location in the Gryffindor Tower like an anchor. Suddenly he felt himself being pulled towards one of the stars. He finally realized what they were. They were people's dreams. Millions and millions of people dreaming. And he was headed for one of them.

Suddenly he was in the Quidditch pitch and everyone was wearing a bright neon orange outfit, including himself. Ron was flying on a broom overhead, throwing out lion headdresses for everyone to wear. Looking closer, he realized Luna was riding on the broom with him, looking at him with a dopey expression.

Dear God, he was in Ron's dream! The orange was horrendous, and he needed out. He could feel an odd sensation, a desire to chant Ron's name and cheer him on, and he thought maybe he was being pulled into the dream, so he focused on the flame and the void, the flame and void. He had to get out of here and back to his own bed.

He gasped as he slipped out of the dream and landed audibly on his bed. Looking over at his friend, Harry shook his head and laid his head back, feeling relieved to have gotten out of there. Luna was right. He had to be careful. Clearly there were some deadly hazards. Ron's dream had been harmless enough, thankfully. But if he was careless, he could end up in Voldemort's dream, and who knew what that tosser liked to dream about?

**~ O ~**

As the exams rolled ever closer with the month of June, Harry had indeed received a false vision or dream, and it happened right in the middle of revision with Ron and Hermione in the library. He'd be studying the history of magic one moment, and the next, he was treated to a front-row seat to Voldemort personally torturing Sirius for information. He immediately began to study everything about the vision.

That was how he caught sight of Sirius having a tail, and that reeked of something false of the whole image. Had he been less aware, chances were he'd have gone charging half-cocked on some wild rescue attempt with barely a plan in his head. Plus, with the two-way mirror Sirius had given him last Christmas, along with the knife that opened any lock, Harry just had to quickly check in to assure himself that his godfather was more than fine, and safe at home.

Honouring Luna's request and suggestion, one night, when he felt a familiar ache in his scar, he began to visualize something he'd seen from a Muggle television show. He made a game show host and had quizzed the mental intruder about heliopaths.

He almost felt them leave in a near-panic.

For the most part, surprisingly, Voldemort seemed to leave Harry alone during his exam time. "It's nice to know that even he cares about your education," remarked Hermione one day, when Harry had brought it up. It made Ron snort orange juice out his nose, and that set the entire Gryffindor table off.

It was that, or he was up to something even worse and was just biding his time. He wished there was a way he could safely traverse the bond and spy on the noseless wonder, but if his Nightmare Realm ally, Kartosian, was advising him and helping, he more than likely had traps set for Harry should he try such a thing.

His planning and deliberations had to take a backseat as the O.W.L. tests began in earnest. He was shocked to meet Griselda Marchbanks, who was actually older than even Dumbledore, as she idly mentioned overseeing the headmaster's tests. The woman had lived through several wars and seen the rise and fall of two dark lords.

If she was as plucky and spry now as she was then, Harry suspected she might yet see Voldemort's second fall. He would love to talk to her and see what he could learn from her wisdom and knowledge.

But he never really got the chance. And during the Astronomy test, something dreadful happened. He had just been making notes about Venus when the lights of the Castle entrance drew his attention, and Umbridge was seen leading an attack on Hagrid.

Everyone learnt that day that half-giants were not to be trifled with even without a wand, as Hagrid bellowed and roared. He threw one person out through one of his windows, and he went down in a heap against a tree. "YEH ALL HAVE A LOAD ON YEH T' COME IN ME HOME AND SAY THAT!" Harry heard him yell at his attackers.

Fang bit on the arm of one of the wizards, and Umbridge yelped, then shot the dog with a stunner.

That was probably the dumbest thing the woman had ever done.

Hagrid's furious roar came with a burst of accidental magic that all but blew his own house from the inside out, and the roof was incinerated, while the walls fell outwards. He grabbed the nearest wizard still standing and threw him one-handed somewhere over the trees of the Forbidden Forest. If he survived the landing, he was still going to be a while at St. Mungo's.

"How dare you! Attacking in the middle of the night!"

"PERFESSOR LOOK OU'!"

Hagrid's warning came too late as four stunners struck McGonagall in the chest, and the woman was lifted off her feet and laid unmoving.

"THAT'S ENOUGH OUTTA YEH LOT!" Hagrid boxed one man with a beefy fist, and he too collapsed. The remainders were still hitting him with stunners, to no seeming effect.

He hoisted Fang's unconscious form over his broad shoulders and bouldered his way into the forest.

Needless to say, the Astronomy tests weren't likely to have particularly great results that year.

"It's a good thing giants are as resilient as trolls can be to spellfire," said Hermione as they marched back to their tower, "but goodness, what will happen to Hagrid? And Professor McGonagall?"

"I dunno, 'mione," said Ron glumly, "but I reckon I'd pay good money to see the back of Umbitch. Wish Hagrid had stepped on her a few times on his way out."

"That's murder, Ron," Hermione pointed out.

"And your point?" he arched an eyebrow at her.

"Fair enough," conceded the girl, "try and get some rest, you two. As best you can anyway."

Harry's forays into the World of Dreams meant that rest came somewhat more easily to him as he knew how to induce sleeping in himself, and a form of dreamless rest when needed. Luna had been teaching him how to shield his mind before sleeping to better protect himself whenever she or Quinn were away.

He had made a terrible mistake that night, however. Distracted by Hagrid being chased out, and McGonagall's severe injury from the cowardly attack, he didn't set up his shielding, which acted as an alternate form of Occlumency, and he found himself slithering on the ground, moving in an odd way.

Seeking, seeking...a man was in the way. Harry desperately studied the dream, looking for proof. This had to be just a dream! Just a dream...but he saw nothing that gave it away. A brief glance in a mirror and he saw a massive snake reflected back at him.

Oh, Merlin, it was Voldemort's snake! There were no telltale signs that this was false. And the man was Arthur Weasley. The snake was angry.

It attacked Arthur, biting him repeatedly, then Harry finally managed to break out of the connection.

His scream woke the occupants of the entire room. Before long, he was with Dumbledore and Snape, relaying what he'd seen. It was quite timely, as they found Arthur where Harry had last seen him.

Dobby had popped in with drinks and refreshments for everyone, not even needing to be called on.

"Harry, my dear boy," said Dumbledore, "I think it's time we did something about that vulnerability you have."

Harry looked at him, then nodded. He knew exactly what the headmaster meant. It was time to deal with this once and for all.

**~ O ~**

When Dumbledore had offered to help him master Occlumency to shield his mind properly the next evening, he didn't realize it meant _Snape_ would be teaching him the art.

Both of them eyed each other warily, neither willing to speak first.

"He will not learn from me," Snape finally snarled when Dumbledore entered the room.

"I'm inclined to agree," said Harry as he turned to look at the headmaster. What was the old man thinking?

"Arrogant, ill-tempered, foolish," bit off Snape as he glared at Harry, "every bit like his father. He will just give everything away to the dark lord."

Harry sighed. It wasn't anything new that came out of the man's mouth about him. He hated the boy with a passion that was still beyond Harry's comprehension, but it seemed to have everything to do with his father.

"What did I ever do to you?" asked Harry at last.

"Indeed, Severus," said Dumbledore, "what did Harry ever do to you?"

Snape glanced at Dumbledore a moment, then at Harry, and then he just glared again.

No answer.

"I brewed a perfect potion before the tests, and submitted it to him. And he pushed the vial off the table. Did you know that?" Harry said to Dumbledore.

"No, I certainly did not. Severus?" Dumbledore looked expectantly towards the potions professor.

"Running to your favourite headmaster, now, are you?" taunted Snape, "Can't fight your own battles?"

"That's quite enough, Severus," said Dumbledore at last, and he walked over to Snape, "Harry is not his father, and you need to stop seeing him as James. _Remember your promise!_ "

That seemed to bring Snape around. Whatever the promise was, it at least made him grudgingly agree to what they were meant to do here today.

"He's still a troublemaker," muttered Snape.

Harry countered this quickly, "Trouble has a way of finding me, I'd say."

"On that, we can all agree," Snape looked at him.

Dumbledore settled on a chair nearby and observed the lesson as it began. Harry also felt Ambrosinus moving about in one of his pockets. The hamgon was never far from him any time of day. And he'd taken to putting scraps of food in the pocket he was in. Dobby or other house-elves would probably be baffled to find all the biscuits, seeds and meat in his uniforms.

"We'll first see how much natural resistance you already have," said Snape as he drew his wand, and then cast, " _Legilimens!_ "

Harry actually saw the intrusion coming before he felt the mental probe. Having been trained by Luna and Quinn somewhat in the art of Dreamwalking and Dreamshielding, he realised quickly that Occlumency and Legilimency weren't too different from the former. Thus he knew how to build a mental path.

He didn't quite have the art of building walls or complete shields just yet, but Luna promised him he was learning fast.

He created a path in his mind for Severus to traverse, and it showed the most absurd things imaginable. He threw into his path every creature he had seen in the Sanctuary and the Enclosure, but not reveal their location, and the game show hosts, who took on the persona and demeanour of the Weasley twins, to showcase the animals and ask Snape to answer questions concerning the creatures before he could be allowed further passage.

When he felt the presence leaving his mind, Harry opened his eyes to a baffled Snape and a mildly amused Dumbledore.

"H-how on earth did you...?" asked Snape.

He turned to look at the Headmaster, "Mister Potter appears to have developed much further than possible on his own," informed Snape, "he can hide his true thoughts."

"But Voldemort can still-" started Harry.

"I think, perhaps," interrupted Snape, "we should first train you to stop saying the Dark Lord's name quite so casually."

This made Harry frown, "Why on earth for? Fear of a name only increases fear..."

"I know the rhetoric, Potter!" Snape loomed over him, "But you might want to consider that I have a reason, and it might just save your life and your friends!"

That made Harry shut up, and he waited. This response seemed to impress Snape somewhat, as he nodded at him, then explained, "What your headmaster may have failed to mention, is that while he can say the man's name so freely, virtually no one else _can_."

He leaned back against a desk as he continued, "In the first war, the Dark Lord had put an obscure spell on his name. A Taboo. It made it so that anyone who spoke his chosen name called attention on themselves, giving away their location, and allowing Death Eaters to find them easily. Even after he supposedly died, the Death Eaters who remained at large could still track anyone who spoke the name."

Harry's eyes grew wide at this, "So...now that he's back..."

"Indeed," affirmed Snape, "now that he's back, it's safe to assume he's strengthened the charm, and the only reason you're still breathing is because of where you are, and Professor Dumbledore. Were I you, I would avoid speaking his name outside of the school. Now you know why people fear his name so much."

Nodding mutely, Harry began to understand the insistent fear people maintained for his name. "Best I teach everyone to call him Tom Riddle instead, huh?"

"A wise decision," said Dumbledore. "And I apologize, Harry. I failed to take into account the danger I was placing you in by not explaining the Taboo to you."

It was quite surreal to realize also that even Dumbledore could make mistakes.

"Now, back to the matter at hand," declared Snape, "it's quite obvious, someone has taught you the foundations of Occlumency to an extent. Now that I know your progress, I will show you what you need to become stronger in. The Dark Lord is a master legilimens, and he will not have any regard for your mind's well being when he strikes. You must be prepared."

Harry nodded, "I understand, Professor."

"I sincerely doubt that, but we will see, won't we?" he flicked his wand and a book appeared out of thin air, and he handed it to Harry.

"You will study it diligently, pay attention especially to the subject about the art of controlling your emotions, and how to clear your mind."

The boy smiled to himself. Clearing the mind would be fairly easy for him. Ever since learning how to focus on the flame and the void and centering his magic around himself, he had a sort of advantage, it was nice to know it doubled as a bonus start in the art of Occlumency.

"Thanks, Professor."

"I suppose that will do for a start," said Dumbledore as he stood up, he looked at Harry, "best get on back to your rooms and have a good rest."

"Right. Good night...Professors."

Snape regarded Harry for a moment, with an unreadable expression, before he acknowledged him with a curt nod.

It felt like something had changed between the two of them. Who knew that there'd come a day that the two could call a truce to the odd enmity they had?

**~ O ~**

On his way back to the Gryffindor tower, Draco and his large shadows cornered him.

"Wand out, Potter," said Draco, while Crabbe and Goyle flanked him on either side.

Harry cast the silencing charm while the two large Slytherin boys obstructed anybody's view of Harry and Draco, "Umbridge has it out for you and Dumbles," said Draco.

" _That's_ what you wanted to tell me?" asked Harry dryly, "It's hardly news, Malfoy."

"There's more, obviously," snarled Draco, "I'm sure it's not lost on you that she's been gone from the school the last two days?"

Now that Harry thought about it, he had noticed the halls were somewhat quieter. The twins and just about everyone else had taken to pranking the woman, and her shrieks and yelling had been quite a good indicator of exactly where she was; so much so, Harry no longer needed the Marauder's Map to let him know her location.

One of the corridors had a swamp that couldn't be removed, and nifflers had been tearing through Umbridge's office on a regular basis. Even Peeves, the poltergeist, had been having a go at her quite liberally. Egged on by the other professors, none of whom were doing a thing to aid Umbridge.

"Yeah," said Harry after a moment, "I noticed."

"Father sent a letter yesterday," said Draco. "He said that Umbridge and Fudge are up to something, and they'll be making their move any day now. He was surprisingly unable to get more out of the minister. But the man's nervous and intimidated by Dumbledore. He thinks he wants his position as minister of magic."

"That's absurd!" cried Harry. "Professor Dumbledore doesn't want that position."

Draco rolled his eyes, "You think Fudge is the most logical person in the world?"

That was a fair point.

"Thanks, Draco. I'll be on the lookout. Now throw a jinx."

"And get myself detention?" Draco drew his fist back instead and Harry ducked under the wild punch. Using both palms, he shoved the Slytherin to the floor. It was a practised move by all of them.

Crabbe and Goyle grabbed his arms and threw him so hard, he actually landed on the top of the staircase. They exchanged glares, then went their own ways. There weren't any real observers, but it never hurt to put on a show just in case.

He made it back to the Common Room without further incident, and relayed Draco's warning to Ron, Hermione, Ginny and the twins in a private corner.

They all agreed to be more watchful, and ready to act if necessary.

"There's something else I was thinking about," said Harry abruptly, "it's about V-er-Tom Riddle's pseudonym."

"Why're you not saying his name anymore?" asked Hermione.

"Because of what I learnt from Professor Dumbledore and Snape."

He started to explain to them what he'd been told about the Taboo on Voldemort's name. At some point, Katie Bell, Alicia, Angelina and the rest of the DA members were surrounding him (which meant virtually the entire Gryffindor house), listening to the tale. Some nodded their heads, already knowing about this, the others had their jaws agape.

"So, from now on, nobody speaks his name," said Harry, as he finished, "Dumbledore is pretty much the only man alive who can say it without fear or risk. But the rest of us, we can't take any chances. Call him anything; call him Tom Riddle, You-Know-Who, Moldywarts, Dark Tosser, anything but the name he'd given himself."

The others nodded their agreement and began to disperse, promising to inform the other DA members from other houses. After nearly a whole term of Harry training them to stop fearing Voldemort's name, he now had to untrain them from that. The boy's head was spinning.

"Harry," called Katie as he got up to sit near the fireplace, and she settled on the armrest of the chair, "be careful, okay? It feels like everything's coming to a head."

"It sure feels like it," agreed Harry. "How're you holding up?"

"I have my good days, and my bad days," Katie shook her head ruefully. "Bad days more often than the good. That was quite the performance you put up with Draco and his boys, by the way."

"You saw that, huh?" asked Harry.

"I stayed hidden, didn't want to interrupt the conversation. He's not quite what I expected."

"He didn't exactly have a choice," admitted Harry, "but I think he's come around, or...he's just resigned to it. I'm not sure what to make of Malfoy senior, though. It feels sometimes like he's actually helping as well."

"Keep your eyes open around them both anyway. If anyone can find loopholes to a legal trap, it's them."

"Of course."

"Good night, Harry," Katie hesitated, then rested her hand over his for a moment before she left.

The hand stayed warm a lot longer than it should have.

**~ O ~**

When Umbridge and Fudge made their move, it was as Draco had said. Two days later, while Harry, Snape and Dumbledore were in the headmaster's office, continuing the Occlumency lessons, one of the objects in the shelves started vibrating loudly.

"We're about to have visitors, looks like," said Dumbledore thoughtfully, and then he hid his jar of lemon drops, "I wonder if they'd prefer liquorice wands or sugar quills instead?"

Smirking at the headmaster, Harry noticed even Snape's lips quirking ever so slightly at the old man's remark. Then the doors to the room burst open.

"We have you now, Albus Dumbledore!" cried Cornelius Fudge, as he marched in ahead of Umbridge and several aurors, including Kingsley Shacklebolt. The latter gave Harry a small smile and a nod before turning his attention back to the headmaster.

"Indeed?" asked Dumbledore still seated, "And what do you have me for?"

Snape stood beside the headmaster, facing the crowd, while Harry was almost shoved to the side by the people filling the place.

"Hem-hem," Umbridge cleared her throat, and spoke in honeyed tones, "What, you ask, Headmaster? Do you not remember what you said to me in our last conversation?"

"Please, enlighten me," Dumbledore spread his arms apart before him.

"You all but admitted that you had every intention of undermining the Minister of Magic himself, and you were manipulating your professors and students to aid you in this task."

"Albus," said Fudge loudly, "I've known for a long time, and now I have definite proof by your own admission. It saddens me, really, but it is clear you're no longer of sound mind and a danger to the younger generations of students who grace this beloved school. Albus Dumbledore, I hereby place you under arrest!"

* * *

 **Additional A/N:** _Thanks to Brutus, Nauze and Otakon1Snake for Beta reading this for me!_

 _Shout out to_ **_Otakon1Snake_ ** _. Check out his super-awesome fic in progress,_ **_Hope and Healing_ ** _, it's a slow-burn Harry/Fleur romance fic, and explores a deep level of psychological and physical trauma. Warning, it touches on the subject of abuse quite a bit, so if it's not your cup of tea, be forewarned._

_So, does anyone have any idea who I based Quinn Gordon Jones on? Chapter 1 has a lot of details about him. Also, pay attention to what Luna said about the man. Lemme know in reviews who you think it is._

_Thanks in advance for your reviews, favourites and follows, I certainly hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. I pray you and your family and friends stay safe, well and blessed in these trying times. See you next chapter!_


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